Chapter 1: How It Happened

I had quite a few monsters on the field. Four. It was my turn.

Swiping my card from my hand, I placed it on my Duel Disk and summoned the monster; Enraged Battle Ox.

"I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode and attack your Kuriboh!" I said. Enraged Battle Ox raised its axe and started to attack Kuriboh.

"I reveal my face-down card, Multiply! It multiplies all my Kuriboh and shields him from your attack." My opponent, Yugi Muto, said.

My Enraged Battle Ox was back on my side of the field.

"I end my turn." I said.

Yugi drew a card from his deck.

"I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Yugi said. All the monsters on his side of the field vanished, including the multiple Kuribohs.

A pink light came down from the sky and landed in front of Yugi.

"I end my turn." He said.

"No...he summoned Slifer! Unless if I summon a strong monster, I can't win!" I thought as I gazed at the large red dragon on the field.

I drew a card from my deck, my eyes widening once I saw it.

Obelisk the Tormentor.

What's even better was that I had enough monsters to summon it.

"I sacrifice my X-Head Cannon, Blizzard Dragon, and Luster Dragon to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!" I said as I laid the monster on my Duel Disk.

A blue light flew down onto the field in front of me and it soon appeared on the field.

"Now I'll use Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox to activate Obelisk's special effect!"

Obelisk grabbed the two Oxes and squeezed them, causing them to become a yellow light and fly into him. I noticed the cards in Yugi's hand.

Three.

Slifer's attack power is infinite, but his power is determined by what's in the holder's hand. In this case, Yugi held three cards, so that meant Slifer had 3000 attack points.

"I have a chance to finally take him down!" I thought.

"Obelisk, FIST OF FURY!" I yelled as I held my hand out in front of me.

Obelisk pulled a fist back as it then crashed into Slifer. It disappeared as all of Yugi's life points depleted to zero.

All the monsters and face-down cards disappeared off the field as I realized what just happened.

I won.

My title has been reclaimed.

Yugi fell to his knees. I began to laugh as I walked over to Yugi. I crossed my arms once I stood before him.

"I've won, Yugi. I'm finally the number one Duelist again!" I said as I laughed.

"Wake up, Kaiba." Yugi said.

"What?!"

Yugi began to stand up.

"Wake up." He repeated.

Everything around me began to fade to black.

But just before it became completely black, I swear I saw the face of my stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba. His face disappeared as soon as I saw it.

I woke up in my room. It was all a dream.

It was raining outside, followed by thunder. I began to get dressed until I saw my stepbrother, Noah, in the doorway with Mokuba next to him.

"The principal just called. School's out for today due to all the thunder." Noah said.

Before I could say anything, Noah and Mokuba walked away, talking to each other about playing a game.

So I got dressed in different clothes instead: a black turtleneck with a Duel Monsters locket hanging around my neck given to me by my little brother, black pants, a white trenchcoat with gray studs and a magenta underside, black shoes, a green belt with gray studs and a gray KC in the middle of it, and lastly, two blue belts each on my arms and near my ankles.

I looked out the window as I wondered what could be so bad about a little rain.

But no. It wasn't just a little rain. The rain was pouring down onto the streets of Domino, the thunder crackling here and there and being rather loud.

No wonder why we couldn't go to school today.

I sat down at my desk as I remembered my dream.

"Why did that pathetic excuse for a stepfather appear in my dream?" I muttered angrily as I rubbed my forehead.

That was when I began to remember how everything happened. Since you're here, I guess I'll tell you.

But I think a different point of view would be better for a few minutes.
IN THE PAST
In a certain household, a young boy, around twelve and with short brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes was currently answering a phone in his house that was ringing. His Father had been dead for a few years now. He doesn't know why or how he died since his Father wasn't home that often.

However, he DID care about his family; he was just busy working a lot of the time.

"Little bro, come here! The hospital needs us and they told us to bring our stuff!" The older boy says, hanging the phone up. A younger brother with long black hair and tanned skin walks into the room, rubbing his blue eyes with his mouth slightly opened.

He's seven years old.

The Mother of these two boys would sometimes show her two children pictures of the four of them together when their Father was still alive.

In the picture the brothers could remember the most, their Dad had somewhat of a muscular body frame. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and navy blue shorts. He was grinning, had his left arm up, and had a thumbs up that was pointing close to his chin. His right hand was on his waist. Like I said earlier, their Dad's hair was shorter. Unlike the younger brother, his hair stopped at the nape of his neck.

Getting back to the kids, the names of the two brothers were Seto and Mokuba.

"I heard you calling my name, Seto. I just woke up from a nap." Said the black haired brother.

"It's fine, Mokuba. Now pack some stuff up." The older brother said.

"Like what?" The little brother asked.

"As long as you have enough of what you want, you can pack anything."

Seto walked to his room and packed some of his stuff into an orange bag. He put his Duel Monster deck in his pocket. Mokuba began to suspect why his brother was acting weird, but he packed some of his stuff into his own bag like he was told anyway.

After they finished that, they closed the doors to their rooms and met up outside of their rooms. Their backpacks were on their backs.

"Got all the stuff you want, Mokie?" Seto asks. Mokuba nods.

"Good. I do as well. Let's go." Seto says. Next, he walked around the rest of the house and made sure all the other doors in the house were shut.

When that was finished with, he and his younger brother walks out of the house. He makes sure to lock the door behind him. He and his brother get to the hospital safely.

Once they get into the hospital, the older brother walks over to the reception desk and told the man sitting there that they were here to see their Mother. Their Mother had left them at home for a few days and her sons didn't know where her room was.

But don't worry. A friend of hers would check on the boys every day.

"All right. Wait here and I'll go tell a Nurse that you need to see your Mother." The man said. Seto nodded. The man got out of his chair and walked away from the two boys.

"Don't worry, Mokie. Everything's gonna be fine. I'll make sure of it." The older brother, the boy named Seto, says to his little brother.

The name of the younger brother was Mokuba.

"It's a good thing that we were here beforehand." Seto thought to himself.

Mokuba just nodded at what his brother said earlier and looked down at the ground.

The man from the reception desk came back to the boys.

"I told a Nurse. She should be here soon." He told them. Seto nodded. The man sat back down in his desk.

"Seto and Mokuba?" A voice said.

"Here." Seto said. He looked down the hall towards the voice.

"Your Mother would like to see you in her hospital room." The voice said. It belonged to a Nurse.

"Okay." Seto said. He and his brother stood up from their chairs and they followed the Nurse down the hallway to their Mother's room.

When they arrived in their Mother's room, the Nurse closed the door behind the two boys and the brothers sat down in two chairs.

Their Mother smiled at them from her bed.

Their Mother had long brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She looked a lot like her son Seto.

She wore that hospital gown-even though it wasn't necessarily a gown, but that's what people called it-that patients in the hospital always wear as well. Her bangs were messy and in her eyes. Her hair was also pretty messy due to laying in that bed for a while.

But Seto noticed that the smile their Mom gave them was a sad smile. Not an exuberant one that her sons were so used to seeing back when she wasn't in the hospital all the time.

"Mom, why do you look so sad?" Seto asked.

"Hey, boys. I look sad because I'm not doing so well." She said, looking at Seto.

"That's okay, right? You'll be better soon, Mom!" Mokuba said cheerfully.

Their Mom smiled down at Mokuba and shook her head sadly.

"No, Mokuba. It's not exactly like that."

Mokuba tilted his head in confusion. The poor young boy was too young to understand what his Mother meant.

"I'm...dying. I should have told you boys before, but I didn't know how. That's why you two got called here. As it turns out, I have pancreatic cancer and I didn't even know I had it. I mean, I had some symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, belly and back pain, and some vomiting, but I never thought it was that bad until it got worse. I always thought I was just exhausted or something." Their Mother said.

Mokuba's eyes widened as he stood up in his chair. Seto immediately stood up and stood at his Mother's bedside. She smiled at him and held his hand.

"No, Mom! Don't say that! You'll get better. I promise you will!" Seto said.

"Seto, don't worry. I've already found you boys a good orphanage to stay at until you two get adopted. I only want to stay with you two longer...even if only for a moment. But I can't. I'm so sorry for this, boys. But you have to know one thing; this pancreatic cancer isn't my fault."

Their Mother slowly started sliding backwards on her bed.

"I called you boys here so we can tell each other our final good byes. I won't make it. I already called someone to come pick you up after this." She said. She looked at Seto. She smiled at him sadly. A tear fell from both of her eyes.

"Good bye, Seto." She said.

"M-Mom..." Seto said sadly as he stared at his Mother, tears filling his eyes.

Her hand was released from holding onto her eldest son's hand.

"Mama...we need you!" Mokuba said from his Mother's bedside.

"Sorry Mokuba, but it's just...my time." She whispered. She looked over at Mokuba.

"Good bye, Mokuba."

"M-Mama..." Mokuba whispered.

Their Mother's head hit the pillow.

"I love you both so much..." She whispered. She looked up towards the ceiling.

She was completely up against the bed now.

"Don't either of you ever forget that." Their Mother whispered for the final time.

She tilted her head to the side. Then she shut her eyes...

...And the monitor went off.

It beeped like crazy.

As the beeping was getting more and more raucous for the boys, Seto looked around the room to see if anything was left behind.

Nothing that belonged to their family was there.

For some reason, Seto didn't bother to sulk about his Mother's death for long. Maybe it was because he was the older brother, or maybe because it wouldn't get him or his little brother anywhere.

Mokuba touched his Mother's hand.

His eyes widened when he realized it was cold. She wasn't coming back.

Two Nurses came in as Seto and Mokuba sadly walked out of their Mother's room. Seto wiped away his oncoming tears as he closed the door behind him.

"Good bye, Mom..." Seto muttered. Mokuba looked at his big brother sadly. He couldn't bring himself to say good bye to his Mother.

After that, the two boys walked back down the hallways to the front of the hospital. Even though he was sad, Seto kept his head up so he could find his way out of the hospital. Mokuba kept his head down and followed Seto.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" The man at the reception desk asked them.

He got no response from either of the boys and decided it was best to stay quiet.

The two boys soon found themselves standing outside of the hospital.

Mokuba rubbed his eye. He was either wiping away a tear or he was tired.

While the boys were waiting for the person who'd take them to the orphanage, a strange looking man stood next to them. He looked at Seto. Seto ignored him.

The man looked mysterious. He had a long gray beard, a green hoodie that was opened and with the hood pulled over his head, a brown shirt, black pants, and what looked like brown boots to Seto. Due the the hood covering his head, Seto couldn't see his hair or his eyes, and he didn't care to guess what they looked like.

He thought of the man as just a suspicious person that they should stay away from so they'd be safe.

Eventually, the man stood behind Seto.

"Hey little boy, what's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Seto couldn't even respond with a cold "what" due to the man putting his hand on his shoulder.

Startled due to not knowing the man, Seto immediately pulled his shoulder out from the man's grip, turned around, and glared at him.

The man smiled and laid another hand on him.

Seto began to get creeped out. What was his problem? Is he being creepy on purpose? If he keeps this up, Seto just might have to teach him a lesson-the hard way.

Seto once again pulled his shoulder out from the man's grip and backed up, pushing Mokuba along with him. The man frowned and walked back up to Seto.

"What's the matter? Do you need a ride home?" The man asked.

Okay, this was enough. He wasn't gonna back off, and there was no way Seto was gonna tell him anything.

When he got close enough, Seto punched him and gave him a swift kick to the gut. The man fell down.

"Why you little-!" The man said, his voice trailing off.

He got up and tried to put a hand on Seto, but Seto made a fist and brings it down upon the hand, making the man's hand retreat.

The man brings up two hands this time. Seto makes two fists and brings them down upon the man's two hands.

The man finally lost it. He tried to punch Seto, but Seto catches his fist in the palm of his right hand while bringing his left fist up towards his face and throws the man's fist to the side.

The man holds out both hands once again. Instead of punching them down, Seto punched them away. He was seriously getting tired of this guy and was about to lose his temper.

He figured he'd dodge the man next time.

The man shakes his hands. After that, he held his hands out again, but he didn't lunge. Once the man got close enough, Seto dodged him and gave him another kick, but this time to his back. The man fell to the ground.

The man got up and glared at Seto. He walked faster towards him this time.

"Why are you being so-"

"GET AWAY FROM US!" Seto shouted at him. The man glared at Seto and continued walking towards him.

Seto punched him in the face. The man glared at Seto, holding onto his cheek.

He lunged at Seto one more time. Seto dodged him and glared at the man.

Finally, the man walked away, muttering angrily under his breath about how he was only wondering why both of them were so sad.

"Oops." Seto thought.

Seto watched him walk away. While watching him walk away, Seto thought that similar situations like that would happen at the orphanage they were supposed to go to.

"He didn't take my deck, did he?" Seto thought, putting his hand in his pants pocket. His deck was still in there. He took his deck out and checked through all the cards. He looked to his side to see Mokuba looking at the cards.

"Why do you have your card deck out, Seto?" Mokuba asked. Seto takes a card out of his deck and puts the rest of his deck away.

"Just making sure I still had it after that fight with that weird man, Mokuba. Someday I'll get a better deck, but for now, these cards will do." Seto says.

"Hey Seto, what if you and that old guy dueled?"

"I'm not sure. A kid dueling an older man? It didn't look like he had a deck on him."

"Yeah, I guess he didn't." Mokuba said.

"But I'll tell ya what I can do, Mokuba." Seto said.

Seto took the card that was in his hand and tried to throw it at the man, but being a card, it missed and didn't go far. Seto walked over to it, picked it up, put it in his pocket, and walked back over to Mokuba.

There was nothing but silence between the two boys.

Seto always wanted a better deck. If he got a better one someday, that was when he decided that his old deck could go to Mokuba.

"Mokie, if I ever get a better deck someday, do you know what I'll do with my old one?" Seto asked his little brother.

"No. What will you do with it?"

"I'll give it to you!" Seto said as he rubbed his head.

Mokuba chuckled as a van drove up to them. The doors of the van opened. What appeared to be a young adult male looked out at them from the driver's seat, wearing a blue cap on his head.

"Seto and Mokuba?" The driver asked. The boys nodded.

"I thought it was you two. Get in." The driver said to them.

So Seto and Mokuba got in the van, closed the doors, and the van drove away from the hospital. They set their backpacks next to them.

Well, Mokuba did. Seto had his backpack by his feet.

As they were driven down an unfamiliar road, Seto and Mokuba both let their minds wander.

But this was their life now, and both boys knew they would have to make the best of it.

Both boys narrowed their eyes as their minds became occupied with thoughts that might happen to them in their new lives. Thoughts that were both bad and good.
Back to Seto's POV
That young boy with brown hair was me.

Before my name was Seto Kaiba, I was known to everyone as just Seto.

When the van stopped, the doors opened and Mokuba and I grabbed our bags and put them on our backs.

We closed the van doors behind us once we got out. It drove away.

We were now standing in front of a brown building with sliding glass doors, brown steps, windows, and white walls.

To the front of the building was a gate. Two men were standing in front of the gate. One wore a brown suit while the other one wore a green suit.

We looked away from the building and down the streets. It was an unfamiliar place in Domino City for us. Both of us looked back at the building we were in front of.

Mokuba gripped tightly onto the back of my sky blue sweater vest.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. I promise that as long as I'm here, you'll be just fine with me. I just hope we get a good family to adopt us both, and at least some fun adventures on the way while we're here. I'll make sure we're just fine!" I said as I stared ahead.

"I'll make sure we get adopted together!" I thought.

"Me too, Seto." Mokuba said, staring straight ahead at the unfamiliar building.

Mokuba stopped clinging onto my vest and gripped my hand instead. We started walking towards the gate.

As Mokuba and I looked at the orphanage, from then on out, I knew I'd always try my best to protect my little brother.

It was then when a determined look made its way onto my face.

"We will get adopted, Mokuba! We will. I'll make it happen." I said. Mokuba didn't respond.

Mokuba let go of my hand.

"Welcome, boys." One of the men said. It was the one in the green suit.

"I run this place, but sometimes my friends help out." He said.

"Follow us." The one in the brown suit said. They started walking in front of us. We followed behind them.

They led us to the front of the orphanage. We were soon standing in front of a door. The two men walked inside. We followed them.

They showed us everything. The bathrooms, the playroom, where we'd sleep, you know.

The only thing they didn't show us was the bed we would sleep in. But I figured I could find out later.

After the tour finished, they walked away and left us standing there in the front room. I walked outside with my little brother, walked away from the orphanage, turned around, and looked it over again. Mokuba walked next to me and looked it over again.

We took a few steps forward and began walking towards our new home, just like earlier. We stopped when we heard a voice behind us.

Mokuba walked over to the side of the orphanage.

I turned around. It was a boy that I had never seen before. He had some friends with him.

"Are you new here?" He asked.

"Yeah. What do you want?" I asked.

"I just wanted to show you what your life might be like for now, or at least while you're here." He said.

He raised a fist to punch me. I dodged him.

"Again? Oh, well. I can take 'im down."

I retaliated by grabbing his wrist and yanked on it, making him fall forward and into the dirt. He turned around in the dirt, kicking some dirt into the air and he stood up.

He tried to punch me.

I dodged it and tripped him. He tripped, but caught his balance and turned around. He tried to punch me again, but I ducked and pushed him.

He fell forward and into the dirt once again. He got up once again and made a fist. He raised it to punch me and ran at me.

I grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face.

"Just leave us alone. We don't need this right now." I said.

The boy frowned.

"Fine. We'll come back later, and don't you forget it. Let's go, guys." He said.

He turned around and walked off with his friends. I turned back around and walked back towards the front of the orphanage.

"This is it." I said when we stood outside on the steps.

"This is our new home, little bro."

Mokuba just nodded.

"Let's go in, Mokuba."

And once more, we walked into our new home.

Something told me that I wouldn't like my life there, and I didn't.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. We'll get adopted. This is my goal now." I thought.

In the present, here I am in my home, looking out a window.

It was almost like I could see these memories play out in the window.

From then on out, I promised that I'd always protect him as much as I could if I couldn't always protect him. And besides, I wouldn't always be there to protect him, but he would one day learn that.

I was never going to be the same after that day. After a while, Mokuba would notice my personality slowly beginning to change. Although he would be concerned at first, after a while he'd get used to it.

I sat down at my desk and took a laptop out from a drawer, turning it on and watching it boot up.

But don't worry. You'll get to see how that happens soon, even though it takes a while. Not only that, but Mokuba would predict something in a weird way more than once.

End chapter

Hey guys. Just so you know, this book is a bit slow and is basically oneshots for a while. If you don't know what that means, it means somethin' new happens in every chapter, but only until the plot kicks up. Think of Disney shows like Jessie or whatever show you can think of. If you don't like stories like that, don't read this. Just so you know, young Seto reminds me of Joey, so he has quite the temper on 'im, but don't worry. He becomes more like the Seto we all know later on in the story. Oh, and this is yaoi free, so if you were looking for a Yu-Gi-Oh! shipping story (some people ship Seto and Mokuba but they are NOT a couple in this story...it's weird to me), exit this, as this is not a story that'll contain any ships.