Seto Kaiba found himself particularly irritable and censorious the past few days, and today was a repeat of those last few.

He tended to snap at his staff at home, and be even more critical of the mistakes of his employees at work, deconstructing every minor transgression until it seemed like a major infraction. Firings were becoming common, and the anxiety was high in the Kaiba Corp building to make sure everything was perfect and beyond critique for employees. These days even one wrong line of code could get someone fired. The employees, the ones not close to the Kaiba family- or as close as one could get to them- did not know the reason for this drastic change in demeanor. Though Seto Kaiba was critical and demanded the best work, the amount of firings and severe reprimands were severe even for him. Only the select few that could say they were close to the family knew what the problem was.

Seto Kaiba sat in his office. Normally, he was able to work with no issue. Years of being with Gozaburo had taught him how to work and become unaware of anything else. But today, and for the last few, that had not been happening. He would type for what seemed like forever, then glance down to the digital timer on the desk. Forever was only actually a few minutes, and looking back at that ticking clock was only fueling his ire.

Two days: Five hours: Six Minutes: Thirty seven seconds.

Time was crawling this slowly to thwart him. He buried his head in his hands in frustration. He was not one to dwell on things he could not control, feeling it was a waste of time, but now he could not help but feel a bit sorry for himself. Why was everything frustrating heaped upon him? It wasn't like he couldn't handle it- he had proven the contrary often enough- but a break would be as welcome to him as a breath of fresh air. Even he could only handle so many negatives at once before he hit a breaking point. He supposed that was what had happened now. This was what his breaking point felt like. Unable to work, constantly frustrated, and mad at the world. Well, it wasn't all that unwarranted. After his defeat by Yugi in Battle City, he had been pushing himself too hard. This was his inevitable comeuppance, and it had been a long time coming.

This served to further his frustration. What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I focus on anything?

He knew the answer, of course. He knew it as surely as he knew how to breathe. He just didn't want to admit that anything could make him lose his focus. But lo and behold, something had. Pride was a warped and twisted master, whose infernal demands made him constantly guarded about his professional image. Seto Kaiba not working was like the sun not rising in the morning. And yet, here it was. At this point he wouldn't be surprised if that dog Joey Wheeler beat him in a duel- that was how upside down the world had become.

Or rather, his world.

His eyes went to the timer again, the thing he cursed that would in a few days be his salvation. The blasted thing was the bane of his existence at this point. Hopefully it would not be that way in a few days. Instead of being the cause of his distress, it would cause his elation. He just wished he could make time go faster.

For the past three days, Mokuba had been gone. It had been a school field trip, a camping trip in a nearby park. The trip was supposed to last five days, a near week. Teach the kids survival skills. Seto had initially found the idea asinine, but when Mokuba mentioned that they were teaching how to tie knots, light fires, and learn what was edible and not, he realized he could give his little brother the skills to survive on his own in the wilderness if, heaven forbid, he was put in a situation where that was necessary. Seto had signed the permission form without another thought to it, and had made arrangements for his duties to the company to be taken over under a few other people. Of course, he knew no one could ever replace his brother. Mokuba was more efficient than any employee in the company, simply because he knew how to take direction and follow orders.

What he had not realized or fully understood in all of that, was that Mokuba would be gone for those days. Five days without checking on him, five days without hearing his voice, five days without being able to make sure that he was getting his needs met, and five horrific days without the person who was the blue sky in his gray and cloudy life.

Ever since his time in the virtual world with his stepfather and Noah, he had developed severe separation anxiety from his brother. The multiple kidnappings that preceded it had certainly not helped matters, but that was the instance that really drove it home. Seeing where he had come from, how far they had journeyed together, and just how much he stood to lose if Mokuba was taken. He had never seen anything so clearly. His family was the most important thing to him. And protecting Mokuba was his biggest priority. Not being able to see him was the purest hell he could think of. Logically, he understood that he could not protect him all of the time, but that's what he felt he needed to do, and wanted to for that matter. And when it was attainable, no one ever denied Seto Kaiba what he wanted.

He had not gone to a therapist or a psychiatrist about this. He wasn't going to go on a spiel about his emotions to anyone, especially some quack. That was like Yugi and his friends spouting their friendship trash. He was a man of action and self reliance, so he had taken it upon himself to fix the problem. A few things had helped. Mokuba, with his love of drawing, had drawn him a picture before the trip. A Blue Eyes White Dragon flying over himself and his brother. He brought that drawing with him wherever he went now. The first day, it had been okay, and he had left it at home when he went to the office, but after that, it traveled with him. He held his locket much more often, and looked at the picture so much more often. But the most helpful and important thing he did, was switching his pillow with Mokuba's. It was saturated with his little brother's scent, and he breathed it in. For a moment, perhaps two, it was like his little brother was beside him.

Now, however, the best he could do was look at the drawing and hold his locket. It grounded him enough to keep working, not enough to do so without distractions, but enough to keep him going until it was time to go home.

Home was not much better, but at least there he could get some uninterrupted time alone. That was the best he could hope for under the circumstances. He had meals delivered to his room, and spent most of his time looking at his locket, and Mokuba's drawings, which he had collected and kept in a box in his drawer. He went to bed that night and slept restlessly, comforted only by his brother's scent.

The next day he was at school, and his mood had only deteriorated further. Joey Wheeler's comments, which usually rolled off of him like water off a duck's back, got under his skin, and he had snapped at him, infuriated. It was enough to make Yugi's friends, aside from Joey, recoil at the sheer fury he radiated. Both Yugi and Atem sensed something wrong here. Seto Kaiba might as well have morphed himself into the Blue Eyes White Dragons he cherished so much, because he was breathing fire, exuding power, and striking fear into people. Even Joey was surprised by the heated outburst. Much as he wanted to think he had finally gotten Kaiba on the ropes, even he sensed that something wasn't quite right here. He of all people wanted to take Kaiba down a peg, but he wanted to do it when Kaiba was at the top of his game, otherwise it wouldn't feel satisfying.

Kaiba had stormed off after that. He needed to calm down before work, so he changed out of his uniform, and into his signature shirt, pants, and jacket before he headed to the office. Roland, driving his boss to work, could feel the tension radiating off of his boss, and he thought he might have a remedy to that.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"What?" It was a guttural hiss.

"I have something you should hear." He said.

"Whatever." He didn't want to hear anything right now.

He soon reversed his opinion.

The sound of Mokuba's voice floated through the limousine, stunning and calming the elder Kaiba. He listened to the voice telling him how much he cared, and it soothed his soul and steadied him. When it finished, he looked to Roland.

"Where did you get that?"

"Mokuba made that for you before the trip. I wanted to save it in case you were frenzied before work. Today just happened to be that day. He gave me explicit instructions to save it for an instance like this."

Kaiba almost smiled. "Smart Kid."

"Indeed he is. I'm certain he's having fun at the moment, but that he can't wait to see you."

"Thank you, Roland." Very seldom did any praise pass Seto Kaiba's lips, but for someone to give him the assurance that he so desperately needed, to remind him of what mattered, and to tell him what he needed to hear, was worthy of that.

Roland gave him a slight smile and nod, knowing that his boss did not take kindly to overt displays of emotion.

Very soon they arrived at Kaiba Corp, and Seto went straight to his office. This time, he found it somewhat easier to concentrate. However, to his utter surprise, Yugi and his merry band of nerds came to his office. He recalled, to his abysmal dismay, that he had at one point expressed to his receptionist and personal secretary that Yugi Moto was allowed on the premises to see him at any time unless he was in a meeting. He would have never missed the chance to duel him, and to that end he stood by his decision. But now, under these circumstances, he had regrets. How the rest of the dweeb patrol got in was beyond him, and he made a mental note to make that stipulation later on. How he hadn't thought of it earlier, he would not know. Had he been in a worse mood, someone would have absolutely gotten fired, especially for letting Wheeler into his building and his personal office.

He felt his impatience returning, the earlier relief of Mokuba's voice quickly being chipped away. "What do you want, Yugi?"

"We wanted to make sure you were okay." Yugi said.

"Yeah, even I could tell somethin' was up. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out." Said Joey.

"Clearly it doesn't if you could, but even if something was wrong, do you dweebs honestly think I would tell you?" Kaiba asked, the earlier rage rekindling itself.

"Doesn't hurt to ask." Said Tristan.

"It wastes my time, and I have a company to run." Seto said briskly.

"Come on, Rich Boy. We came all the way down here. We aren't taking no for an answer." Joey fired back.

"I didn't ask you to come at all, and the fact that you got any answer is more than you deserve."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you believe you are entitled to something that is not yours. My emotions and feelings are mine, not yours. I don't owe you anything." It seemed the blackest clouds were going to stay and block his blue sky forever.

"That's where you're wrong!" Joey shouted.

"Joey-" Tea began, but was overshadowed by Joey's declaration.

"Me and my friends have put our butts on the line to help your family more times than we can count! Yugi lost the duel on Pegasus' castle to save your brother, he defeated Pegasus to save both of you, he teamed up with you to save your brother, and he did it again for both of you with Noah! You may not like it, but we've all done our part to help you, and the least you can do is show some respect!"

"Respect is earned, not given, Wheeler! I respect a good opponent, which is why during those times, I have showed Yugi some degree of gratitude. You personally have done nothing to earn my respect. Nor has your buddy." He gestured to Tristan. "Tea has somewhat, for helping my brother, but you have done nothing of the sort. You're a third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck and you-" Kaiba was cut off suddenly by the doors of his office slamming open.

"Seto!" Every head in the room turned at the sound. Mokuba was running into the office.

The angry black clouds that had enwreathed Seto Kaiba began to clear away. The voice pierced his being and made everything else seem less important. Mokuba leapt toward his brother and gave him a hug.

Seto melted at the contact. Everything else seemed to disappear as he wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Mokuba, what are you doing back so soon? You aren't supposed to be home until tomorrow."

"Somebody lit a fire in another part of the park, and the trees caught it. We were far away so it didn't get to us, but they had to evacuate everybody so that they could put it out and make sure the damage wasn't too bad. But it was awesome, Seto! We made campfires, and we roasted marshmallows, and we sang a bunch of songs, and one kid got poison ivy, and we learned how to make something to help the itching stop! It was like being in a TV Show!"

"Really?" Seto felt himself beginning to smile.

"Yeah! We got back to school and they had to call someone to pick us up, so one of the servants came and got me, and said I had to come and see you right away! We would have called, but we had to take the town car and it didn't have a phone."

It took Yugi and his friends a moment to process all of that.

"You were on a field trip?" Asked Yugi.

Mokuba turned, surprised at the voice. He recovered himself quickly though. "Yeah. To the forest park nearby. I was gone for four days."

It all sank in for them then, the drastic change in Kaiba's behavior, and they shared a grin. Kaiba however, paid them no mind.

"I take it you had fun?"

"Mhm! But I missed you, Seto."

"Me too." Seto said, and gave him another hug.

His gray days were over, thanks to his brother. From that point on, Yugi and his friends got in the habit of calling Mokuba "Mr. Blue Sky", because with him, Kaiba was much brighter.