As soon as that topic was brought up, both Alexis and Misawa looked at him with eager faces.
After all, this was Seto Kaiba—the man at the very top of this world. Any anecdote about such a legend would fascinate everyone, especially when it involved a classmate.
"So you want me to tell the truth?" Kira put on a serious face.
The two sensed juicy gossip and nodded repeatedly.
"Alright, here I go."
Kira took a deep breath and, at his leisure, said:
"Actually…"
The two held their breath.
"…I'm not close with Seto Kaiba."
"…"
Kira sighed. Sure enough, judging by their faces, nobody ever believes the truth.
He hadn't even exchanged more than a few words with Kaiba, didn't have his contact info. At most, he was only vaguely acquainted with Kaiba's brother, Mokuba.
The two were skeptical.
"Really?"
"Really," Kira said.
"Then is it true he gave you a huge scholarship?"
"…It's true."
"And the sponsorship for our lab?"
"…Also true."
"Some say you got a bunch of rare cards through KaibaCorp's internal channels—"
"…That's also true."
The two: "…"
"But I heard Seto Kaiba is pretty difficult to get along with," Misawa said. "Even with Duel King Yugi and others, their relationship wasn't great. Everyone at KaibaCorp is said to be terrified of him…"
Indeed, many people were curious about that. Kaiba was famous for his dueling skills and his infamous temper. To get so many favors from him, you'd have to be close, right?
But Kira shook his head: "Just rumors."
"So he's not really like that?"
"Not exactly," Kira pondered. "If I had to say… that's his mask."
"Mask?"
Misawa and Alexis exchanged confused looks.
"Seto Kaiba isn't quite what you think." Kira smiled. "You know, KaibaCorp was originally an arms manufacturer, right?"
That was common knowledge; both nodded.
Seto Kaiba and his brother were adopted, and taken in by the previous arms tycoon, Gozaburo Kaiba.
Gozaburo had his plans: he wanted to use Kaiba's body as a vessel for his real son, Noah, who'd died in a car accident. He wanted to download Noah's digital consciousness into Seto's body to revive him.
But unexpectedly, Kaiba took control of the company as a teenager, forced the old man out, and became the new president. Gozaburo's plans failed, and he died bitterly.
Kira said, "Seto Kaiba took over a massive corporation at sixteen, and had to earn everything on his own.
He forced a bunch of old arms dealers to obey him and made a weapons company switch to making card games. If he didn't act as tough and ruthless as the rumors say, it would've been impossible."
The two thought it over and nodded.
Besides, Kaiba was always a classic tsundere—he'd never admit his real feelings.
The best example: he always called Joey a nobody and rated him only two stars as a duelist. Yet, when Joey's soul was taken in the Doma arc, Kaiba's first reaction was surprise: "Even the nobody lost?"
So, in reality, Joey was one of the world's top duelists in Kaiba's mind—he just refused to admit it.
"So, if what everyone usually sees is a mask, what is the real Seto Kaiba like?" Alexis asked.
"Who knows?" Kira shrugged. "Once you wear a mask for long enough, it's not so easy to take it off."
Short silence.
Then Misawa spoke up: "So you know so much about Seto Kaiba…"
He trailed off, but his meaning was clear.
You still say you're not close?
Kira: "…"
Suddenly, a harsh alarm rang out, sharp as a blade slicing the night sky, echoing through the forest.
"This is…the academy's intrusion alarm?" Misawa's face changed.
Alexis frowned as well: "That's only sounded for emergencies. What happened?"
A mechanical female voice came from the loudspeakers: ["Attention all students. Duel Academy has been infiltrated by unknown individuals. All students, please return to your dorms immediately and await further instruction.
The incident will be handled by the administration…"]
"Intruders? At Duel Academy?" Alexis looked worried.
"Who could it be? And why target Duel Academy…"
"Who knows?" Kira shrugged.
There were plenty of reasons someone might target this island.
"In any case, just to be safe," Misawa stood up, "let's do as we're told and head back to our dorms."
….
Chancellor's Office.
Chancellor Sheppard stood by the window, looking worriedly outside. The sky had darkened, thick clouds swallowing the horizon, thunderclouds roiling like an angry beast.
"A storm is coming…"
The office door opened. Professor Crowler hurried in.
"What's going on, Chancellor?" Crowler said anxiously. "What's this about the academy being invaded, and why are the students all being sent back to their dorms?"
"Calm down, Professor. We don't know the details yet—only that unauthorized individuals have broken into the academy. We don't know how many or where they're from.
But the administration is already searching. I believe we'll find them soon."
Professor Crowler stood at attention: "Please let me join the search, Chancellor. I will never let anyone harm our students!"
"I understand how you feel, Professor. But for now, let's observe the situation. If necessary, I'll inform you."
"Understood, Chancellor."
Crowler lowered his voice.
"By the way, Chancellor, do you think they're after those three cards?"
Chancellor Sheppard hesitated.
"I don't think so—it doesn't fit the methods of that group," he shook his head. "But just in case, I've already sent people to check on the site."
He grew more serious.
"No matter what, we cannot allow anything to happen to those three cards."