with anger. Finally she bursts out: "Just listen to yourself! How can you say something like that? He's your little brother, not your student and certainly not yourstepson! Do you really want that make of him what your stepfather made of you: a person who hides his true feelings from himself and the world, cold-tempered, merciless, self-righteous and narrow-minded; a person who only functions, without heart and soul? Do you want him get as lonely as you? "
Kaiba swallows hard. Damn it, why do her words hit him like that? She has absolutely no idea, not the slightest bit! How is she supposed to know what he has been through all these years, what he had to give up and what it cost him to put aside all the injuries and blows that were inflicted on him; whoshedid to him? How does she get the right to confront him with it again and to accuse him of such monstrous things? No, learning to hate her was the best he could ever do.
"You take it on!", Kaiba presses out, "But I don't need to justify myself to you. What I've done, I've done and I don't regret it, just so you know!"
Yuki shakes her head slightly: "I hardly recognize you, Seto. You got so cold. You were completely different then.Open, selfless, cordial. Why don't you try to remember it once? "" Why should I remember my weaknesses? ", replies Kaiba," I'm rather glad that I got rid of it so quickly, "he adds poisonously.
"Weaknesses?", Yuki looks at him critically, "I'll show you something, let's see if you still think that way." With these words she makes a hand movement. Again, the environment around them reshapes. The tree can be seen again just a few steps further. Kaiba's eyes narrow "I hope you don't intend to show me that again!" He says sharply. But as if to answer, the four now discover two people on the ground next to the tree: Seto and Yuki. They are sitting amicably next to each other on the meadow and seem to be talking, but at that very moment a high-pitched scream can be heard not far from them.
Young Seto immediately jumps up and shouts worriedly: "This is Moki!" almost panicked he looks around. “I can't see him anywhere!” He exclaims, worried. Now Yuki has got to her feet too. "He was just here after all," she says, also worried. "Now he's gone!" Says Seto excitedly. At that moment a new scream sounds. "Mokuba!", Seto shouts loudly and starts sprinting as fast as his legs can carry him.
The four observers hurry to follow the two children. From a hill they experience the desperate rescue attempt that the boy undertakes to wrest his little brother from the floods. With a stone mine, Kaiba watches as the dripping wet, exhausted boy heaves his little brother onto the bank and begs for his life, trembling. Only when the little one gasps for breath again does Kaiba notice that he too has been holding his breath.
Again they observe how the initially happy expression of the young Seto turns into an angry look and calls out to the frightened girl on the bridge parapet: "This is allyourfault! Get out of here!" how the little girl turns around and runs away. Then she says softly: “Do you know how much that hurt me back then?” Kaiba jerks her eyes open: “How much it hurt you? You obviously don't shrink from anything, are you? My little brother almost drowned! He was only five and he couldn't swim yet. And I was only eleven. When I finally got him on the bank, I was completely exhausted. There wasn't much that was missing then and I couldn't have saved him And it was all entirely your fault, so how dare you stand here in front of me and claim it hurt you? "
Confused, Yami watches the two of them. What could have happened between the two of them back then? he asks himself, I can't with the best will to say which of the two is right.Somehow each of them has a reason to be angry at the other, but nobody really wants to get out of it. Will they still have the courage to finally say what is bothering them?
Yuki's face is now an emotional roller coaster. She oscillates between grief, anger and discouragement. Then she can overcome herself and asks: "Why was that my fault? It fell in by itself. I didn't push it in, or anything. I could never have done anything to Mokuba. I know why you still blame me give for it, but it was not my fault and you know that too, and I'm sure you know exactly why what you said didn't hurt me true Seto? "
Kaiba feels his heart beat faster again. No, he doesn't know! Hedoesn't want to know, doesn't remember it! Images from back then rise up in him. No, he refuses to remember! Damn it, he wanted to forget it forever, because every thought hurts like a thousand pinpricks. There on this tree is buried one of its deepest secrets and there it should stay buried for all eternity!
"No, I don't know!", He says grimly, "But I know that you are responsible for what happened to Mokuba and I will never forgive you! He could have drowned then, he would have[i]died[/I was responsible for him, I should have taken care of him, instead I had to spend time with you again.
"Because[i]youdidn't want to come to our house, becauseyoureally wanted to go down to the river, we took him with us. I should have kept an eye on him! He would never have been alone like that allowed to run far away. I should have spent more time with him, then none of this would have happened! Just by a miracle nothing happened to him. I might as well have lost him. I don't know ... what I would have done then ... ", Kaiba breaks off.
He now becomes uncomfortably aware that all eyes are on him. It's running cold down his spine. Did he really just say it all out loud? How embarrassing! Now he has certainly lost all respect from the others. How could he get carried away with such an uncontrolled outburst of emotion?
Now Yuki takes a step towards him: “You see,” she says gently, “You haven't forgotten all of your feelings. I always knew that you loved your little brother. And that has never changed.” Kaiba senses how he suddenly feels very strange. He suddenly has an urgent need to be alone, but this wish will probably not be fulfilled, so he turns away from the others.
Yuki watched him thoughtfully. "Why do you think you have to play the strong, aloof guy all the time? Have you sustained so many injuries that you are completely numb?"Kaiba snorts out contemptuously." You ought to know that best, "he says bitterly," I owe what has become of me to you alone. Whatever has happened in my life that I am no longer what you remembered me, you are responsible for it! "
For a moment Yuki doesn't say anything, then she hangs her head. “I know!” She finally admits, “I've known that for a long time.” Kaiba's head turns in astonishment. Yami also looks up in surprise. The young woman now looks very bent. She takes a deep breath then says: "You wanted to know what I want from you. When I heard what you did with my father's company, I couldn't believe it at first. I had you as a friendly, warm-hearted, compassionate boy in mind. I couldn't understand what could have changed you. I've thought about it for a long time.
"And finally I realized that it was my fault. In some things I behaved wrongly and wronged you. I could not really understand why you took it all so much to heart that you yourself so much changed, but I began to see that I was still responsible. Can you imagine how I felt when I realized that fact? ", a tear stalked the corner of Yuki's eye.
"No, you can't imagine it," she says, "If I was the reason that you became so merciless, then I am also responsible for what you did to my father. We realized that I myself drove my father to ruin and thus had it on my conscience. I do not blame you for his death, but myself! This knowledge almost broke me. "
"And now you think you can free yourself from these feelings of guilt by trying to show me through soulful, small flashbacks what kind of person I used to be, so that I can see what I have lost and you regretfully and tearfully join in can excuse me so that I can forgive you and you don't have to feel bad any longer, am I right? ", Kaiba interrupts her harshly.
"No!", Yuki replies firmly. Anger now resonates in her voice again, although her eyes are still glistening damp. "When Noah showed up in our system a few weeks ago and we made our agreement, I asked him to tell me everything and show me what he knew about you. I watched all the replays of your foray into cyberspace and then I was then even more aware of how much you have changed. "
Kaiba turns angrily to Noah: "You showed her the same scenes as me?" Noah looks at him calmly: "Not only the scenes, also your reactions to them. I showed her everything that happened back then and I did her too reports exactly what happened at the Battelcity finals."" You lousy little one ... ", Kaiba glares at him, but Yuki continues.
"I was shocked to say the least! About how hard-hearted, stubborn and ignorant you have become, but especially about how you treated Mokuba. I could hardly believe it. Back then, your little brother was your everything, and how bad you have all of him Treated over and over again the years after? You took advantage of him to outsmart your stepfather, you command him around, you ignore his wants and needs and meanwhile you push him off you coldly when he bothers you and you feel like it Fraternity?"
Kaiba doesn't say a word. Instead, he just glares at her grimly. What is she imagining? What is it to them what he does with mokuba. Granted, he hasn't done much with his brother lately, but he has always been there with him. So what should he be able to complain about? Ok, he left it at home today, but at some point he would probably have taken it back with him.
But would that make any difference at all? Does Mokuba really have to follow him everywhere, and anyway, can his little brother want that at all? Hanging out with the head of a business empire all the time, is that