friendship was a mistake [closed]

[blue_ice]

They all needed a vacation, he'd said. They should take it together, he'd said.

After that little bit of uncharacteristic thoughtfulness on Kaiba's part, he regretted it almost immediately. But the plans were now set in motion, too far along to stop without undoing the progress he'd been making these last few weeks.

That was how he found himself on Hano Beach, dressed in his casual beach wear (with cargos. rip.) and sitting on a large trunk full of Stuff. His smaller Pokémon are nearby, playing in a shallow puddle he'd carefully dug for them and stuck an umbrella over.

There's a table with Anela's famous berry smoothies, also with an umbrella over it, and chairs for the humans to sit and relax. Have fun. Try not to kill each other.

Comments

[bloomingdespite]

"Rest assured, this is only a temporary arrangement." Noa waves at Zahra, who nonchalantly waves back before realizing who's waving, nearly dropping the supplies they were carrying, stepping forward, pausing, looking at who he's talking to, then shrugging and moving on. "I can't imagine that whatever Team Skull Grunt whose Haunter I'm... borrowing is too happy about what I'm doing."

are you implying that you're possessing a ghost noa,

"...you know, it's almost disappointing. How different you are from him." There's a pause as he looks out at the sea, face carefully blank—the same poker face that Gozaburo had taught his world's Seto. "I've been trying to find any singular point where you two split, but as far as I can tell, you just... decided to be better than him at every opportunity."

[blue_ice]

Kaiba blinks, but quickly shakes his head. Whatever. He's heard weirder. The grunt will live without one of many, many Haunters for a little while.

But that question catches him off guard. He has to think about it for a few moments. The emotions that flicker on his face are tangled up---regret, embarrassment, and then resolve. He's slowly learning to live with who he is now.

"I don't know if you listened in on all of Zahra's conversations with me, but the differences in all of our lives from the puzzle going to a different person appear to have had a number of ripple effects. I didn't have the opportunities to be hostile to them that your Kaiba did, I was so laser-focused on defeating the pharaoh---and after he left, it got worse. I abandoned Mokuba over chasing that title."

He finally got one corner of the tent up and leaned over the pole for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Someone I met here showed me that I needed to make a choice between my obsession with a title or building a future---that I wasn't as prepared for the consequences as I'd thought. I realized once we were apart for this long that Mokuba means more to me than winning. I'm not better---I'm just a failure who got a second chance."

[bloomingdespite]

"...he's amazing." Noa says this with genuine fondness, and an equally genuine smile. No sardonic smirk, no wicked grin, no indulgent leers- for a moment, his guard is completely down. "Mokuba, I mean. The amount of love he feels for you, despite everything that happened- the amount of love he feels for me, despite. Well. Every horrible thing I did to him, which I can assure you far exceeds whatever emotional damages you think you've wrought upon him.

"...I'm glad at least one version of you figured out what was really important, at least."

[blue_ice]

That's one thing they have in common. Nothing softens Seto up quite like the thought of his dear brother. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws a letter in Mokuba's handwriting.

"I promised him I'd do better. And he loved you...the group of us in my world weren't as resourceful as Zahra. We weren't able to save you, and it really hurt him."

Oh god, why is he saying this. He lapses into silence for a moment before he continues.

"I tried to push past it and move on, but...I've had time to think, Noa, and we're not that different. We weren't in any position to be friends back then, but with the past behind us..."

He takes a breath. "Can we try this again?"

[bloomingdespite]

"I'd be happy to." Noa extends a hand, smiling... not quite warmly, but close enough.

It's progress, at least.

[blue_ice]

...is he supposed to shake hands with a ghost? Is that how this works?

Regardless, he sucks it up and reaches for his hand anyway, regardless of how foolish it might make him look. He smiles back, uncertain but willing to try.

"I never thanked you for saving us...mm, even if it was all for Mokuba's sake."

He can certainly understand that.

[bloomingdespite]

"I'm afraid it wasn't even that heroic." Noa sighs, turning away to look at the ocean. "After regaining the capacity for empathy while in a human body, I was struck with the enormity of everything I had done, and was selfishly, desperately trying to make amends. I thought the only way to redeem myself was to take Gozaburo down with me.

"...thankfully, Anzu didn't particularly take a liking to the idea of a twelve year-old spending his last moments with his horrible father in a display of pointless self-sacrifice and dragged me into the puzzle."

[blue_ice]

"But however we got here...still. Thanks."

Kaiba doesn't seem bothered by the admission. As long as the end result is the same...

It sure leaves Noa in an unfortunate bind, though.

"And I'm glad someone was quick enough. But I wonder if there's a way to give you more..."

It'd be stupid and dangerous if there was, but Seto's an expert at stupid and dangerous. And he feels this lingering guilt pushing him forward.

[bloomingdespite]

"No robots." Noa's tone is harsh, firm. "Or androids, or what have you.

"Not again.

"Other solutions, though... I would be open to."

[blue_ice]

"Damn," he mutters. That of course was his first thought.

"I'll have to go 'spiritual' or something, but if that's an option anywhere, it's here. I'll need time."

He doesn't really know where to start, but for what he owes to his brother...he closes his eyes in thought. He'll try.

IMPENDING IRONY (end)

[bloomingdespite]

"Considering where we are? I believe we have all the time in the world."