Legend of Blue Eyes

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Yugioh Paparazzi!Verse
Chapter Summary: Yugi talks a little about the familiar symbol of Kaiba-Corp.
Word Count: 930
Rating: teen

             “So, what’s the story behind the dragon?” Anzu asks, and Yugi looks surprised for a moment.
             “That’s right, you wouldn’t know, and I don’t think they ever did run that story.”  He breathes in deeply and takes out the ever-present locket around his neck and opens it.  There’s a card inside, the dragon she knows from all the KaibaCorp products.  From a game when, well, it’d have to be middle school, now.  It’d been all the rage for a bit, but then it’d petered out like a passing fad, and it’s been ages since she’s seen one of these.  What was the game again?  “Duel Monsters,” cut through her reminiscing, and she jumps, startled, as if he’d read her mind.  “Blue Eyes White Dragon is Seto’s favorite card.  He was world champion, you know, and in every battle but one Blue Eyes carried him to victory.”  With the soft, almost reverent way Yugi’s talking, this is something special to him, to the star, a sacred memory from his past.
            “So he gave you a dragon?” she asks, getting excited.  Maybe Kaiba’s more than just his gruff exterior.  It’d certainly make him easier to work with.
            But Yugi laughs.  “I don’t think he’d even give Blue Eyes White Dragon to Mokuba.  No, though it’s what caught his attention, all those years ago…”

            “I don’t like being back here, Seto…” Mokuba protests, and Seto sighs.
            “That’s why I told you you could wait in the vehicle or, better yet, back home.”
            “I’m curious,” Mokuba answers immediately.  “What are we doing?”
            “I’m looking for potential,” Kaiba answers.  It’s a roundabout answer, one that will keep Mokuba thinking as he looks.
            Orphanages are probably some of the best places to find what he’s looking for—loyal, smart new potential employees to add to his company.  It’s important, especially since Pegasus had the nerve to disappear a few months back, and KaibaCorp is dying without him.  Duel Monsters is on the downhill slide, but Seto will fight that with his last breath, and even if, in the end, it’s a losing battle, he can keep Blue Eyes alive.  That’s why he changed the company’s symbol a few days ago.  That’s why he’s hunting here, now.
            There’s a loud yell.  “Give that back!”
            A very short boy with spiky hair and bangs is jumping, trying to grab—that’s a Duel Monsters card.  “What’s so special about this piece of trash?  Is it valuable?” the taller one sneers, and Kaiba feels a snarl coming on.
            “It’s the last thing Grandpa gave me!  Give it back!”  The boy scrambles on top of one of the desks, reaching out with desperate fingers.              He’s fast, but not quite fast enough, and the bully laughs, shoving the short one, who topples with a yelp of fear.
            He begins twirling the card in his hands, and Kaiba feels the blood freeze to ice in his veins.  Who would have known, that this was the last hiding place of that very familiar, very rare card.
            “Give that to me,” he growls, carefully plucking it out of clumsy fingers.  “Scum like you don’t even deserve to touch her.”
            The smaller boy looks up with blue eyes so dark as to almost be violet, hope and fear warring.  “A-are you going to give me my card back?”
            The bully moves to try to stop him, but Kaiba’s faster, and a card cuts the face as it flies toward the ceiling.  Blood trickles down the line.  He ignores the other, focused completely on the boy, the boy who just might have potential.  “That depends.  Do you deserve her?”
            “I hope so,” the boy answers shyly, and at least that’s a good start.  “She’s the Blue Eyes White Dragon.  She’s one of the rarest and most powerful cards in Duel Monsters.  Only four of those exist.  She’s also…” he takes a deep breath, continuing with courage, but there’s definitely pain in that expressive face.  “She’s also the last thing Grandpa ever gave me before he went away.”
            “Will you trade her to me?” Kaiba asks, and the boy shakes his head.
            “Any other card,” and Seto’s respect and frustration grow in equal amounts. 
            “I don’t suppose you’d let me buy it, even if I offered you enough to get out of this dump.”
            “She’s worth more than that!” he yells, and Kaiba winces.  It’d be nice if the kid came with some sort of volume control.
            “Fine.”  He gets his duel disk ready and sees the kid’s eyes widen.  Funny, he hadn’t even thought that was possible.  “Then I’ll duel you, and if you lose, I get your Blue Eyes.”
            “What do I get if I win?” the child asks.
            “You get to keep her.  And I’ll adopt you, I suppose.”  He hands the other a duel disk of his own, and the kid cradles it a little like it’s a great treasure.  He allows the child to take the Blue Eyes, at least for the moment.  It’ll be back where it belongs soon enough.
            “You’re my age.  I know you can’t adopt me,” the kid—really, he’s my age?—states with surety, and Kaiba allows the smirk to cross his face.
            “Not directly, no, but I do have employees.  It’s all the same thing, in the end.”
            The boy hesitates for a moment.  Believe in the heart of the cards, believe in yourself, and it’s Grandpa’s voice and it’s someone else’s he doesn’t recognize and in that instant, he feels strong in a way he never has in his life.  “All right, then let’s duel, Kaiba!”