[ Closed starter for @bad-decision-central ]
There was a slight hum that flittered through the air as the boy continued his walk home from school. Although uncommon for the typically prickly youth, there was the uncharacteristic spring in his step this particular day. Makoto--his mother, was preparing yosenabe that evening, and it would have been a lie to say he wasn’t looking forward to it.
It was funny how drastically someone could change in such a short period of time; Noah was no exception to this rule. The adjustments he had to make after living as a stack of data for quite nearly a decade had been astounding. But Noah was smart and, most importantly, he was resilient--bordering on stubborn. Although he had been worse for wear when he had awakened from his indefinite coma, he managed to drag himself back to a place that was relatively stable.
Ironically enough, it had been the financial situation that was much more jarring to him. Growing up, Noah had been spoiled beyond comprehension; anything he desired was his. Though, in retrospect, he supposed that may also have been his father’s way of placating him. But this woman, Makoto Nakaya, she was far from possessing the wealth his father had amassed. Regardless of this fact, she was still quite comfortable financially, and by no means was struggling to care for herself and Noah. Having the prolific background he had, Noah initially showed some reservations when interacting with his adopted mother. He'd never asked for much. Honestly, he hardly asked for anything at all. It had taken some time for her to put the pieces together, and when she had, she’d been reasonably mortified, and the slightest bit aggravated. But he was an odd child, and she realized he was trying to be polite rather than rude with his assumptions.
All things considered, the pair had managed to form an odd bond that neither ever could have expected. For a woman who'd never wanted children, she was utterly taken by the boy. And for a child who'd never had a parent who cared--well, that had been an unexpected turn of events for Noah.
Walking home from school had become a routine at this point even if it had, at first, been an odd one. Noah had never attended school; the numerous tutors and homeschooling arranged by his father ensured he would never be caught up in the public system. Which, granted, Noah excelled at (unsurprisingly). Of course Noah’s brilliance was often a topic his adopted mother would brag about. This was as unsurprising as it was familiar to the youth. The main difference being that this woman actually spoke with pride. She was proud of him. Now that was something that was foreign to the boy.
The door to his home was pushed open and promptly closed. Upon entering, he’d kicked off his shoes and his bag rested beside them.
“I’m home.” A brief call made by Noah before he stepped further into his house.
He pulled out his phone as he walked and began swiping away the various notifications he’d received during the school day.
Huh. Usually Makoto would be holed up in her office this time of the day.
“There’s a young man here to see you. I had him wait in the living room. You and I will be having a conversation afterwards.”
She sounded mad, and yet Noah had no clue as to why. With a mere hum in reply, he redirected his walk to the living room and, once there, he lazily lifted his head to meet with their guest.
He swore he felt the blood rush from his face. Seto. There he was; standing in his living home. Seto Kaiba. Oh God. Oh God.
Noah couldn’t settle on a place to look. It bounced from Seto, to the television, down to the coffee table. He quite nearly glanced back to the entry way even if he knew the gaze he would receive from his adoptive mother would be deadly. Dramatics aside, Seto quite literally held information that could destroy his newly cultivated life.
Not that he didn’t have every right to do so. Noah had quite nearly ended his life.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but his grip on his phone had nearly caused his knuckles to turn white. It caused the slight trembling in his hand to become more pronounced. It was with that discovery that he chose to shove it in his pocket; at the very least it kept it close to his body and he could refrain from physically shaking.
Despite the absolute hammering of his heart against his ribcage, despite the fact his body was screaming at him to avoid this situation altogether, he still managed to state that name with such strength. Though, even he couldn’t mask the obvious fear he felt--not entirely. He swallowed hard after that, and he suddenly found it hard to meet his gaze.
“I can honestly say I hadn’t expected to see you again. Well, aside from the adverts littering the city, of course. I hadn’t expected to see you in person.”
Still sharp as a tack, and now his walls had been ramped all the way back up. Noah was on the defensive, even if his words said otherwise. The digital world had its advantages in that regard; bodies were fickle and they were absolutely dreadful in the emotions department. Fight or flight? Horrid. Every inch of Noah was screaming it.
“To what do I owe this insurmountable pleasure?”
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