http : // www. geocities. com / enjoythehiatus / stories / le / an.html
only remove the spaces. of course. ^^;;
He was back in Domino.
How long ago had he left? 10 years? Longer? Yes, it had been longer: 14 or 15 years. Time was inconsequential. The point was that he had left long ago, and now he was back, looking at the home that had once been his without any real feeling, as though it wasn't a place of his memories. Like he had never lived there, like it was just another place to sleep. In retrospect, it was. Homes had never been anything meaningful for Kaiba. Where most homes were decorated and had a sense of warmth, his was remote and emotionless as he was. When he moved away it hadn't been a great trial, hadn't broken his heart, and similarly there was no nostalgia in returning, no feeling of home or comfort. In fact, he felt worse for returning because he was returning alone; there was nothing for him in Domino. The only thing in this city was his company… and he wasn't even sure if he was really willing to return for it.
31 years old and alone in a city he all but owned. How depressing.
Kaiba unlocked the double front doors, pushing them open with ease. Everything was draped in plastic, preserved for the day that no one had ever expected, the day that the Kaiba brothers would return. Kaiba had never intended to come back, let alone without Mokuba. It was sort of anticlimactic; his return was unmarked, unnoticed… and as much as Kaiba hated the attention, maybe he would have felt a little better if he had a chance to show the world that he wasn't old yet, that he still had his old fire.
He did. Somewhere.
He walked through the house, watching the floating particles of dust that caught the rays of light filtering through the dirty windows; they danced through the air majestically before settling back onto something solid. How could a place he once lived - had once kept immaculate - be so filthy now? It felt like a haunted house from a bad movie, and Kaiba half-expected someone in a sheet to come out and yell "boo!"
Mokuba had done that once, a Halloween forever ago…
"Big brother, did I scare you?"
Kaiba smiled down at his little brother and ruffled his hair. "Of course you did."
He would have to call in a cleaning crew. It would take forever to clean, and the house would probably keep that old warehouse smell for months. Kaiba could handle that; he didn't expect to stay often. He went into his old office, still furnished, right down the old computer. Obsolete computer. He needed to get that replaced as soon as possible. He went to the desk, sat in the old chair despite the dust; the pencils and paper were where he had left them, organized in the second drawer from the bottom on the left side. Retrieving one of each item, he began to make a list:
New household employees
Sheets?
Food
Cleaners
New computer
Call phone company, get phones running
Kaiba checked the drawer above the pencil-and-paper drawer.
More envelopes & stamps
That was all he could think of. He folded the paper and put it into one of his inner jacket pocket, near his wallet. He sneezed again; the sound echoed ominously, reminding him that he was very much alone in his home. He sighed. He wished he could hear Mokuba chattering, or just walking; he would have welcome the incessant blaring techno that had characterized Mokuba's late teens. All he got was silence, so thick that it threatened to swallow him whole, drag him down into its nothingness. He took out that paper again, and quickly added 'music' to the list.
He left the house, strolling to his car. He didn't bother locking the house behind him. If no one had tried to rob it in a decade - unprotected as it had been - then he wasn't going to worry about it for a couple of hours. It wasn't like there was anything in the house that was irreplaceable. He drove with the radio playing quietly, just enough to remind him that there was a world, and that he was in. As he drove he saw places that he remembered; some had meaning, some didn't. It was frightening how some things in Domino hadn't changed… and yet so much had. There were still droves of people walking the streets, laughing and waving to each other. There were still carts of weary-looking merchants, and still children running rampant and loose. There were still people who looked less-than-savory, still homeless huddled in groups, hiding in alleys. There were still the usual decorations of autumn screaming at him from the windows, reminding him that Thanksgiving was just a month away, that he should be thankful… for what, he wasn't quite sure.
And there was still his corporation, its building jutting up into the sky, standing out among all the other lesser building, beckoning him closer, welcoming him "home." Kaiba remembered the way, remembered which streets to avoid in midday and which were nearly deserted. Remembered his pass code to get through security - not that he needed it; from what he had heard the whole company was expecting him back - and he remembered exactly how to get to his office. As he walked through the halls employees gawked and murmured, like peasants looking upon their king, or a god… their reactions made Kaiba smirk. In a way he was their god; he decided who stayed and who went. It all felt so familiar, so easy, but… he couldn't put the same simple-mindedness into it, the same blind devotion that he had when he started. Maybe it was just old age creeping up on him.
Not that 31 was old.
"Welcome back, sir," a woman said. She was smiling at him, greying brown hair pulled back from her face. She looked familiar… ah. His secretary. She looked older, but that didn't surprise him; she was old enough to be his mother.
"You're still here," he said monotonously. They weren't close… but at the same time, there had been a sort of understanding. He liked her diligence, if nothing else; no one got past her if she didn't let them, and she knew exactly who could see him and who couldn't. She knew what he would need and when he would need it. She did her job well, and Kaiba respected a job well done.
She nodded. "Still here. It's a good job."
"How have things been around here?" Who better to get a report from? The higher-ups in the company could lie about anything; his secretary would be honest, if for no other reason than no one had told her not to be.
"Well, there's rumors-"
"I'm not asking for idle gossip," he said harshly. She didn't look hurt. Even after so long she was still impervious to him at his worst.
"Of course. As far as I know there's been no problems. There was an embezzlement issue last year-"
"I heard."
"-and we've had an unusual number people quit in the past two months, but other than that things have been just fine."
He hadn't been lied to. "Good. Is my office ready?"
"Yes sir, whenever you are."
"Good. I don't want to be disturbed." He left her, going to his office. Another pass code that he still remembered. Another room that was from his past that had no real feeling for him other than the smallest twinge of pride. He had been at his strongest in this room, gone up against foes that seemed greater than the gods…
This room was new: newly furnished, newly painted, newly decorated. Yet new as it was the room seemed alive with his old power, his old arrogance. He liked it. He had missed this place… a little; his distant home office had been nothing compared to this. Kaiba spared a small smile.
He felt 16 again.
He felt like he could take on the world.
Seto Kaiba sat down at his desk and began to work.
- author thinks... -
RUN!
Haha. Believe it or not, I'm going somewhere with this. It moves sort of slow though. I think the main part of this was to make clear this idea I have; that even Kaiba has the potiential to sort of even out, especially after the passage of time.
I actually severly question whether or not I should be posting this. As I mentioned in my big notes in the beginning, I'm sort of going in blind, with a vague idea of how certain parts are going to be... its a very awkward situation for me, and it makes me nervous... but I will finish it; rise to my own challenge, you know? Right, off the soap-box.
Anyway, hope you weren't too bored.