Yu-Gi-Oh! Love Selflessly (Version 2 - SEMI FINAL)

Prologue 3

Early the next morning, Emiko stirred awake. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head, yawning and running her fingers through her short, brown hair. The sun was only just starting to peek over the horizon, painting the city in different shades of bright orange and pink, the dew on the grass and flowers sparkling in the new light. She turned to look over at her alarm clock. It wasn't set to go off for another hour, so she laid back with a heavy sigh.

"Was that a dream?" she asked herself, "No. It couldn't have been. It was so real." She groaned and sat back up, stepping out of bed, grabbing her pastel red bathrobe and throwing it on over her nightgown before walking downstairs. She turned to enter the kitchen, where she saw Seto sitting at the dining table with a half-empty, now-cold cup of black coffee beside his open laptop. He was staring intensely at the computer screen. She paused in her tracks and took a long, deep breath before walking into the dining area.

"Hey," she said, walking up to him. He said, not looking up from his work, "Good morning, Emiko. You're up early." She nodded and said in a groggy voice, "Yeah. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night...and judging by the look on your face, I'd have to guess that you didn't get much sleep either." He sighed, "I've run simulation after simulation. I just don't understand how Yugi managed to win." Emiko pulled up a chair so she could look at his screen, too, as Seto continued, "I had all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons in play. I was on the verge of victory, but somehow, Yugi managed to summon Exodia."

"Exodia?" Emiko asked, "He actually managed to summon Exodia?" Seto groaned, "I was so close. I just had one more turn to beat him, but somehow, Yugi drew the last piece just in the knick of time." He typed a few more numbers into his laptop and let it run. Emiko sat back in her chair and said, "What if...wh-what if it was something you couldn't calculate...? Maybe it was luck...or maybe it was the Heart of the Cards that--"

"Emiko, not you, too," Seto grumbled, "Look, I know you're friends with those geeks in school, but I don't want to hear you preaching to me about the so-called 'Heart of the Cards'. Yugi and his grandfather wouldn't shut up about it, but you and I both know that it's only a card game." Emiko held up her hand and said softly, "Whatever. Seto, that's not why I wanted to talk to you. I'm not here to argue and I'm not here to preach to you about anything." Seto glared up at her for a moment, then said, looking back at his computer screen, "Okay, then. What do you want?" Emiko inhaled deeply through her nose, remembering her conversation with Bakura, and then said in a low voice, "To apologize." Seto looked up at her. She said, "Seto, I...I-I'm sorry for how I spoke to you the other day. I never should have said those things. We just...Mokie and I just miss having our big brother around and I...I just snapped. It was wrong of me." Seto shook his head and said, "No, Emiko. I'm the one who should apologize. To both of you. You were right." Silence fell between them both and Emiko smiled. He turned back to his computer screen and Emiko stood up. She said, "I'll leave you to your work. I'll go get ready for school since I'm awake." Seto nodded and typed more stuff into the computer.

"Thank you, Seto," she thought, "It's not much, but at least we might be a real family again."

She lightly knocked on Mokuba's door before going to her own room to shower and get dressed in her spare pink and blue Domino High School uniform. While she stood in the bathroom, brushing and drying her hair, she couldn't help but feel happy. This was the first time in a long time that she had ever felt happy at home. She smiled and tied the light blue bow around her collar, then walked out, making sure to knock on Mokuba's door a little harder. She said, "Mokuba, are you up?" Inside, Mokuba said brightly, "Yeah, coming!" Emiko smiled and walked downstairs. Seto was still sitting at his computer, but he had gotten a new cup of coffee. Emiko walked to the door where she changed into her school shoes and walked out the door.

Later that day, she walked inside and took her shoes off, walking out to the living area where Mokuba was sitting on the couch, watching an advertisement for the upcoming Duel Monsters Regional Championship. Emiko leaned over the back of the couch to watch alongside him. As the ad faded out, Seto walked in and Mokuba said, "Seto, I thought you had already left! You'll be late for the Regionals if you don't leave soon!" Seto said, "I'm not going." Emiko and Mokuba asked at the same time, "What?!" Emiko said, "But, Seto, you've been preparing for the tournaments for months! Why in the world would you want to quit now!?" Seto sighed, "There's no point. I'm in no condition to duel anyone." Mokuba said, confused, "What are you saying?! You're the best duelist there is!" Seto said, "Not anymore." Mokuba said, trying to encourage him, "You always say 'cards are power'! You have all the strongest cards! You're the champion!"

"Since I lost my duel with Yugi," he explained, "I'm not sure what to think anymore. I've run every possible simulation I can and nothing adds up. Yugi should have lost, but he didn't. He drew Exodia at the perfect time." Emiko snapped, "Come on, Seto! Yugi beat you, yes, but that's no reason to beat yourself up! I mean, everyone loses every now and then!" Seto said, "Not me. I just...I don't know who I am anymore." Mokuba said, "You're our big brother." Silence filled the room. Seto sighed and turned to walk out. He said bluntly, "I'll be at the Kaiba Corp building tonight. I'm still resigning...for now." Emiko and Mokuba looked at each other, then sighed as Seto walked out the door.