Chapter 1
Seto didn't know why he's doing this.
Fine. He knew why. But he couldn't believe he actually cared. He had to admit, he did though. He was scared out of his mind when it happened.
He was working at his computer at work like always. Then it hit him. He saw the old man, falling down the stairs, grasping his heart. The date was November fifth, which was that day, and the time was four thirty. He saw the clock. He saw the calendar. And god, he saw that man's face, full of surprise, full of pain.
Which was why Seto's standing alone in that Turtle Game Shop, waiting to be noticed.
" What are you doing here, Kaiba?"
Oh boy, Yami. Seto sighed. He held his face in his hands. Of course. He should have remembered. He can't just tell Yugi and Yami, ' Guess what! Your grandpa is going to have a heart attack at four thirty today! You have about thirty minutes left! Tick tock tick tock!'
No, he can't do that. So how is he going to break this to them?
How do I even know that vision is real? He wondered. And even if it is, why do I care?
That was the question he had been asking for a long time. He was asking himself on the way here. Why did he bother going out early from work just because of some stupid vision?
But Seto knew in the back of his mind...it was real. It was as real as he was right here. And as much as he probably didn't like Yugi, he didn't want to see the poor man die.
How is this going to change it?
" Well?" Yami was getting annoyed, and also a little nervous. Seto is acting very
weird now.
" Does your grandfather have any heart problems?" Seto asked.
Oh gee, that's going to get you somewhere. One hippopatamus. Two-
" No...why do you ask?" Yugi asked.
That was it. Seto's going to break it to them as brutally as possible, and he
didn't care if they don't believe him.
" You're grandpa's going to have a heart attack at four thirty."
Gee, that's smart. Seto wanted to hit himself on the head. Like they're going to
believe you now. But do I really have a choice?"
Well, now they're going to think you're crazy. Smart Seto!
No, that cannot mean Seto is telling the truth. The thing is too absurd.
" Pardon?" Yugi blinked.
Seto sighed and looked at the clock. 4:09.
Let's see, Seto Kaiba, use that brain of yours. Everyone thinks you have brains so it's time to prove that. Seto held his head in his hand for a moment, and was staring at the clock.
4:10.
" I give up!" Seto sighed, and started towards the exit. Yugi and Yami were too surprised to stop him.
That really got you somewhere, Seto. He thought to himself. You wasted a good
deal of time in there! Now, not only didn't you stop anything bad from happening,
Yugi and that yami of his now think you're nuts!
"
" What do you suppose he's talking about?" Yugi asked.
" He said that Grandpa is going to have a heart attack." Yami blinked. " Why
though? Your grandfather was always healthy..."
4:13
" Did he do some kind of trick?" Yugi asked.
" I doubt it. Did you notice what he looked like" Yami stared at the clock. " And
he's always staring at the clock, and he looked like he was having a difficult time
trying to speak."
While they were discussing this, Yugi's grandfather called to them, asking who had just come in.
" It was Kaiba, Ji-chan." Yugi answered. " He was acting weird today, but he left."
" Oh." Sugoruku nodded. ( I'm not sure how to spell his name.) " I see. Well, I'm
going to carry these cards to the basement."
" Need help, Ji-chan?" Yugi asked.
" Iie, you don't need to help. It's only one box." The old man smiled. Then he began
loading the cards into the box in an orderly fashion.
Yugi grabbed a wet towel and began cleaning off the counters. Yami helped.
4:29
Sugoruku carried the huge box down the stairs. It was dark in there, and it smelled like cardboard boxes.
There was a sudden pain in his chest. At first, it was alright, nothing much really.
Then it started to get intense. Really, really intense.
" What was that?"
Yami and Yugi froze. They both heard it. A distinct sound of something tumbling down the stairs. Immediately, Seto's words came to mind.
" Ji-chan? Ji-chan!?"
Seto cursed himself. Why is he at the hospital? No doubt those two wouldn't
want to see him again.
Sighing, he knew the answer. He felt sorry for the old man. He wanted to make sure that his failure wasn't that much of a failure, and that there was still hope. After all, he changed one thing-one tiny thing. He told them.
He saw those two. And Jou, and Mai, and everyone else.
Kami-sama.
" Hey, Kaiba, what are you doin here?" Jou asked.
" Yugi, is your grandfather alright?" Seto asked.
" Hai, he's going to be alright. We got to him in time." Yugi forced a smile.
Seto held his head in his hand. " Look, I'm really sorry about earlier-"
" It's alright." Yugi interrupted him. " There's nothing you could have done."
Seto rubbed his temple. He was having a big headache.
" Ano, I know this may sound weird, but what the heck is goin on here?" Jou
asked.
" I have no idea." Yugi answered. " Seemed like Kaiba knew that Ji-chan was going
to have a heart attack."
Yami appeared then. He studied the tired Seto Kaiba for a long moment.
" Care to explain, Kaiba?" He began.
Seto sighed and sat down heavily beside Yugi, silent.
Hai, why DID you decide to make sure that old man is alright? You KNEW
that they're going to expect you to explain. They would most definetely-
Because I care, HELLO!
But outwardly he suddenly felt so tired and he stared at Yami for a long moment. He knew the other was growing impatient but he was so tired these days, so tired. He didn't want to explain.
" Well?"
" I can see the future." Seto finally answered. " I use to be able to see the future until Otou-san died in that accident. Then this power abandoned me or something. It came back fresh, but it took a lot of energy, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't ask any more questions-I'm too weary."
Uhhh, right? Ano, since when did you start admitting that you're tired?
Surprisingly, it worked. Yami nodded, as if understanding. Or maybe because of how pitiful he looked, but Seto didn't really care at the moment.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that it was Yugi.
" How's Mokuba?"
*FLASH!*
Mokuba was coughing badly and his eyes were glazed over. Seto stepped in,
tired after meeting Yugi and the others. The time was nine twenty, and the date
was that night. Seto blinked at Mokuba.
" Mokuba, are you alright?"
" Oni-chan, I think I'm getting sick-"
" I need to go!" Seto suddenly bolted up and ran down the hallway. The nurses
looked at him as if he was crazy.
" Ano...what just happened?" Honda asked.
" Did you feel that?" Yami blinked. " He had another vision, I think. I'd swear his
blue eyes were glowing blue."
Yugi nodded in agreement. " We'll ask him about it later, when Ji-chan
recovers."
" Hai." Yami nodded. " We owe him one."
" Here, drink this." Seto looked at the clock. He still had half an hour, which means
he still had a chance. Mokuba blinked at him before gulping down the bitter herbal
juice, and Seto handed him some chocolate.
" Why are you acting like this Oni-chan?" Mokuba asked.
" I can tell the future again."
Mokuba blinked, then chewed his chocolate thoughtfully. " Really?" He
beamed. " That's great!"
" Look Mokuba, I'm really tired. But do you want to stay in my room?" Seto
asked. " I won't be doing anything tonight because I know I won't need to."
Seto smiled at seeing Mokuba's shining eyes. " Oni-chan, you're the best!!"
The next day was a Saturday. Yugi got his grandfather home from the
hospital somewhere around noon. It was a wonderful day, the sun was shining, the
clouds were snowy white. That was when Yugi and the others decided to make his
way to Kaiba's mansion.
The mansion was actually pretty far away. It took them around an hour to get there. When they got there, they rang the bell, and Mokuba answered.
" Hi Mokuba." Yugi smiled cheerfully. " How's your brother?"
" Oh...he has a pretty big headache right now. He was just planning on calling you."
Mokuba called out. " Oni-chan! Yugi and the others are here!"
Seto walked over. " Oh dear." He groaned. " I don't know when it's going to
happen this time. Darn it."
" What's going to happen?" Mokuba asked. Seto beckoned the others in. Then he
closed the door and locked it. The door clicked, he banged his head on the door
once, then turned around.
" What are you here for again? Oh, right, my fortune telling powers. Listen, I've
been really screwing up with my words these days, so I'm going to say as little as
possible, and since Mokuba knows everything, Mokuba, come onstage, you guys
ask him whatever you want and leave me alone!"
Turning around, Seto left his surprised guests to themselves with Mokuba, and went upstairs.
" Ano...what's that about?" Honda asked.
" Oh, he's in a bad mood." Mokuba answered quickly, looking at his brother in
worry. " He seems to know what you're going to ask."
" Hai, that was what I was thinking." Yami materialized beside Yugi. " Do you
know?"
" Iie. I don't have that power." Mokuba began, as they all sat down. " Oni-chan
always had the power of telling the future when he was young. It's creepy. He knew
that oka-san was going to die if she had me and he told Otou-san. They didn't
believe him." Mokuba looked down. " Oni-chan said that it wasn't my fault. It was
his. He knew it and should have done something. But it wasn't his fault, you know.
And that time when Otou-san died in the car accident. Oni-chan told him that he
will. Otou-san didn't listen. Oni-chan felt that he should have done something. But
then that power just vanished, or maybe he didn't pay much attention to it, so he
didn't see any visions for many years."
Yami looked at Yugi. " How odd. We have a prophet here."
Yugi looked at Yami for a moment. " What do you mean?"
" Looks like Kaiba can see the future quite accurately. He doesn't even need the
cards to do that, nor the Millennium Items. But why is he having a headache,
Mokuba?"
" I don't know. He sometimes gets strong headaches when the vision is very strong.
Probably when he saw your grandpa, the vision was very strong, so he had a
headache. Or if he had too much, but I doubt it."
" Okay...is there anything special about his fortune telling?" Anzu asked. " I'm just
curious."
" Well..." Mokuba thought for a moment. " He...he usually has visions about people
he cares about. The only other type of vision he gets is things related to himself.
Like what will happen to him. I'm surprised that he had a vision about your
grandpa. I thought he hated you guys."
The group looked at each other.
" Okay, that's weird." Jou muttered.
" That certainly is." Yami looked at Seto's room. But there was a tender look in his
eyes.
" Arigatou for the ride, Seto." Anzu smiled. " That's very sweet of you."
" Don't bother thanking me. Thank the lord that you won't be dead tonight."
" What do you mean?" Yugi blinked.
" Seto, did you have another vision upstairs?" Ryou asked.
Seto was silent.
In his mind, he was replaying the thing over and over again. Yugi and his
group will be walking down the street. Along will come a driver driving at a high
speed. He will try to brake but he will hit all the kids at once. Then another driver
will hit the first one, then another, then another, until there was no chance for Yugi
or his friends to survive.
Suddenly, he jerked.
*FLASH!*
" It's starting to rain." Jou said, looking out the window. 1:45.
Seto shrugged. Could be anything.
There was a swirl. 2:13.
The driver tried to break. There was a horrible screech. Seto felt himself
thrown forward.
2:14:23. The car had flipped over.
There was a swirl. 3:56 p.m. There was an ambulence. Seto saw himself
being carried into one. Beside him was Yugi. There was a cloth covering his body.
He was dead.
" Forty cars and trucks were in the accident, causing the deaths of seventy people
and injuring hundreds of others..."
" Wasn't it sunny just a minute ago?" Honda asked. " Wow! It's pouring!"
" Seems almost unnatural to me." Ryou blinked. " What do you think, Seto?"
Something crashed into them. He saw Yugi tumble forward. His shirt was
red. Jou hit the front of the car. Anzu cut her windpipe with the seatbelt.
Something crashed into them again. 2:14:16. The back of the limo was
tilted up and everyone fell to the front.
*FLASH!*
" Seto, are you alright?"
" It's starting to rain." Jou looked out the window. Seto looked at the clock on the
radio. 1:45.
" Wasn't it sunny just a minute ago?" Honda asked. " Wow! It's pouring!"
Seto looked himself. Indeed, it was. Just a minute ago, it was sunny. Now the sky was dark and the roads were thoroughly wet.
" Seems almost unnatural to me." Ryou blinked. " What do you think, Seto?"
" Driver, stop the car." Seto commanded, to the surprise of others.
" Seto?" Yugi was the one that had first spoken. " Did you see something?"
Seto ignored him. " Driver, make a u-turn over there. We're driving back to
the mansion."
" What are you, nuts?" Jou cried. " What are you doin?"
" Did we start the accident or was there others?" Seto blinked. " Never mind.
Driver, drive slowly."
They slowed down. Everyone in the limo was blinking at him. They arrived at the mansion at two thirteen.
Seto took out his keys and unlocked the door. He hurried everyone in, shutting the door while calling to his brother.
" Mokuba! Switch on the television to the news channel!"
The answer was a sudden voice of a reporter.
" ...Breaking news.A devastating accident has occurred down on 56th Avenue.
Thirty nine cars and trucks were in the accident, causing the deaths of around fifty
to sixty people and injuring hundreds of others-"
" Kuso!" Seto yelled. " It didn't work!"
But the others were looking at him. They suddenly realized why Seto had turned back.
Saturday afternoon at 2:14 p.m.