vulnerability

Author's Note: so, this idea came into fruition a while ago but due to my busy schedule, I've been putting a lot of stuff on hold. After much thought, I decided to publish this and see how it goes. I have a lot of unfinished one-shots on the shelf waiting for me to finish but life happens. I will do my best to update this frequently so bear with me. A bit of an fyi, I will base Domino City in America. So for instance, it will be located in New York. I will use the American names of the characters to keep it simple. My apologies to those who love the Japanese names. This story centers around Seto Kaiba's mental and emotional health and how it starts declining day by day. He keeps it to himself and acts as nothing. Until one day he breaks... and others realize that he really is also human. I was contemplating of making it either Seto Kaiba x Kisara or Seto Kaiba x Serenity but the latter works for this I think. Also, since this is kinda like an AU story Serenity does not know much of Kaiba other than the Battle City blimp situation and her brother rants about him if that makes any sense. Anyway, feel free to leave your reviews. Thank you.

Trigger Warning: negative/depressive thoughts, anxiety, stress or suicide may be mentioned on this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The series and characters of Yu-Gi-Oh! are all owned by the late Kazuki Takahashi.

xoxoxo

October 25th, 2014 [present]

"Seto, please wake up..."

Gray-colored eyes stared into the sleeping figure as he listened to the beeping sound of a nearby monitor—ridding itself of the silence that has engulfed the chalky room. His two hands held a paper plate with a slice of chocolate cake on top, ready to be eaten at any moment. However, on this occasion the cake would not be tasted nor devoured. Tears fell from his face as he could not control his emotions.

"Happy birthday! I know, I shouldn't cry but it has been almost five years since that day... I wish you would say something... I miss you, big brother."

Another person entered the room, watching the scene as the younger individual blew off the candle in front of the unconscious person who had numerous wires connected to his chest—with the intention of measuring his heart rate and rhythm. The blond walked to the raven-haired young man and patted his back, trying to offer emotional support to his friend.

"Mokuba, it's okay to let it out. The more you bottle up your feelings, there are higher chances of feeling shittier later down the road."

Mokuba sniffled, trying to clear his tears. "Joey, I don't know how much I am able to handle in seeing my brother like this... I just want him to be here... to be happy and live his life," he expressed, letting his blond friend take the paper plate off his hand.

"I know, man. It's hard, trust me. But you can count on the gang and myself for anything you need. It will continue to be like that even if it has been almost five years. Kaiba will wake up, Mokuba," Joey said, trying to lighten the younger man's mood a bit.

"Thanks Joey."

Mokuba nodded, appreciating his friend's support. Over four years, the dark-haired male has been occupied with a lot of KaibaCorp duties and also the media. After his brother's horrible accident became viral in the news all over the world, he had to take over the Kaiba empire. His future plans were to pursue something outside of his brother's legacy, but fate had other things in mind. Seto Kaiba has sacrificed so much for his safety and well-being—even with the risk of his own life especially after countless times of physical and emotional abuse from their tyrannical stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba. That horrible piece of a human being who did not deserve to even breathe had stolen his brother's essence at such a young age, trying to create a replica of him. Although Seto became emotionally unattached, he still prioritized Mokuba's needs over everything. Everything about this hurt him; wishing he could rewind time and show his brother how much he meant to him.