A/N: For the first round of season six of Compy's contest! Yay! So, I promised myself I would do all AU fics this time since I did all cannon stories last time. Boy I hope I'm able to pull it off... Shall we start with ninja's?
You know the small noise the body makes when the mind realizes that everything has changed, the small whooshing noise as every last bit of air is expelled from the lungs accompanied by the burning pain of drawing too much breath after?
It was the only sound he made but it was enough for her to hear.
In the absence of one sense, the other four sharpen to compensate. The young woman's eyesight was bad. It was the first thing he had learned during his hour long observation. The immediate conclusion that had brought him to was that this would be the easiest mission he'd ever completed. In fact, he could have completed it fifty minutes ago at the most and been home by now. He was the best at what he did. (Well, with the exceptions of his brother but his brother was amazing and it was an honor to be so close to him in skill.) He was silent, he was quick, he had gotten into the girl's apartment without her noticing and could have completed his assignment in record time especially since she was more than half blind and small and probably weak as well. And still he hadn't. He simply stood there, in the same shadowy corner watching the girl as she came home from work, put her things away and busied about the small flat, avoiding sharp corners and banged shins with an easy, practiced grace. He'd watched until he betrayed himself, all the while asking the same question he'd been trying to get an answer to for the past fifty minutes. Why.
As soon as the noise left his throat, the girl turned sharply toward it. "Who's there?"
He saw her breath quicken, saw her take a half step back, then saw her jaw set and her chin lift before taking a step forward instead, straight for the dark corner in a darkening room as she hadn't bothered to turn on any lights yet.
Still, he didn't move.
Her vision was bad but not gone and when she got close enough to make out about where he was, she raised a hand and placed it on the side of his face, warm fingers sliding over the black wrap that concealed everything but his eyes.
The girl's breathing was shallow now, the only sign of fear that she let slip through the calm facade, even after just having discovered a stranger in her home. And even that he could see her attempting to control.
She spoke when he didn't.
"This is about my brother." It wasn't a question but he nodded slightly and she snapped her hand back, holding it in front of her protectively.
"Go on then, do what you're here for!" She was angry now, defiant, and still, he just stood there.
A long moment passed and the anger faded to nervousness.
"Why?" Her question mirrored the one he had asked over and over and before he even realized he had the answer, he spoke it aloud.
"I don't want to."
The nervousness faded to puzzlement and the puzzlement, to a small, small smile that tugged at the corner of her lips.
She turned her back on him to switch on the living room lamp.
"Would you like some tea?"
"I failed." Mokuba climbed in his brother's window, confrontational energy the only thing giving him the courage to face the other's disappointment.
"I know." Seto bolted the door to his room and turned back to his sibling, his expression carefully neutral as always but Mokuba knew how to read his eyes. What he saw surprised him. "Where were you?"
"Having tea."
"With the cop's sister?"
Mokuba nodded.
"Where is she now?"
"I hid her."
Seto stared at him for a long moment, long enough to make his brother uncomfortable, training being the only thing that kept him from fidgeting.
"You should go."
"What?"
"You hid her, you can hide yourself. One of us should have the chance for a normal life." The last statement was almost a whisper and Mokuba almost didn't catch it over the sound of running feet and shouts outside the door. "You don't have to submit yourself to the clan for their justice. Leave!"
Seto turned again to face the door and Mokuba rushed forward to grab his arm as he unsheathed his sword.
"You can't fight them, you'll die!"
Seto shook him off and gave him a shove toward the window.
"I won't. I'll find you some day. You could never hide from me for long." His eyes and his smile were softer than Mokuba had ever seen them and even though the words were lies and they both knew it, he ran for the window, pausing at the sill to look back at his brother, sword at his side and ready to defend his escape.
"Promise!" He yelled and Seto looked over his shoulder at him quizzically. "Promise that you'll find me!"
"I promise."
Jou whirled and instinctively reached for his gun as the man in black stepped from the shadows but Shizuka's hand on his arm kept him from drawing it.
"Shiz?" he asked in confusion.
She ignored him and stepped boldly up to the stranger.
"I didn't think I'd see you again."
"I didn't think I'd make it back."
The stranger gave a small, exhilarated laugh and Jou didn't miss the way his sister reached for his hand, or the way the he yanked off a pair of black gloves before tangling his fingers with hers.
"Can I introduce you to my brother?"
"What's he doing here? No one's supposed to know where you are."
"He's my brother. I couldn't not tell him."
The young man was quiet and Jou caught the emotion in his face before it disappeared. He lifted his head and looked him in the eye then, uncertainty and unexpected warmth visible in the shallow grey color.
Jou simply held out his hand. "You hid her here?" he asked and the young man took it and nodded.
Then his sister punched him in the arm. Hard. "Ow!"
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here. And yes, this is Mokuba. Mokuba, this is my brother Jou."
Jou rubbed his arm. "Thanks."
Mokuba nodded again. "I should probably find a new hiding place." He hesitated. "You could come with us."
"Sorry kid," the cop gave him a crooked smile, "there's still work here I have to do."
Shizuka gave him a brief hug before taking Mokuba's hand again.
"Be careful, okay?" She called back over her shoulder as the man in black led her away.
"I promise."