Mokuba watched the maids taking his bed sheets to the laundry and sighed. Really, did his Brother have to overreact like that? You couldn't even tell that they were dirty in any way at all. Not that that would make a difference to his Brother, but still. The young boy slipped past the last of the maids without them seeing him, and went up the stairs to the main office.

The door was closed, the shutters were down, and everything was locked. Mokuba understood the message, as did all of the staff: Seto Kaiba was in, so everyone else stays out. Rolling his eyes, he punched in his code and opened the door. Just because his Brother was in a mood didn't mean he was going to leave him alone.

Kaiba sat at his desk, a sheaf of notes in one hand, eyes focused on the screen as he meticulously checked codes. Without looking up, he pointed to a folder on the filing cabinet.

"Hand me last months security report, Mokuba."

The boy fetched the folder, thick with papers, and brought it over. Knowing what his Brother was planning, he turned on the appropriate computer, and brought up the files for the previous night. Then, folding his arms, he leaned on the desk and watched his Brother work.

Still not removing his gaze from the computer, Kaiba scowled.

"Get on with it Mokuba. I know you're going to say something about what occurred last night."

"Brother," Mokuba sighed, "don't be like that, please? Mana just needed to get away from the other Yuugi and all, nothing happened."

Kaiba slammed down the paperwork and turned in his chair to look at his younger brother,

"Nothing happened? Mokuba, that thing, that, foghorn, was in. Your. Bed. She's a filthy, common girl who plays in the dirt. I don't know how she got in last night, but I will find out."

And with that, he turned back to his work, knowing that Mokuba knew when he had been dismissed.

Frowning very much like his Brother would, the younger boy went to the door.

"She's not a thing Brother, she's my girlfriend! And I'm telling Pegasus that you want him to visit!"

The look of complete horror and fury in his Brother's face at the last statement was some consolation to Mokuba, who shut the door and fled before the inevitable outburst could happen.

Closing the front door behind him, he looked around hopefully, thinking that Mana may have stuck around and waited for him. After all, it had been less that an hour since Brother had literally thrown her out, and if her fight with "Prince" had been bad enough for her to leave in the middle of the night, she probably wouldn't have gone home…

Yup, there she was, kneeling under a tree, engaged in a one-sided argument with a butterfly. Mokuba grinned. Mana's distracted logic and complete innocence might drive his Brother insane, but they were two of Mokuba's favourite things about her.

And she was pretty too. Not in the almost-scary way Mai and Miss Ishizu were, but in a really awesome normal way. Which was funny, since three thousand year-old time travellers were anything but normal. (Or even real, if you asked his Brother.)

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he waited for Mana to finish with the insect. After sternly informing it that her hair was not a free sleeping space (complete with finger-wagging), she got up and brushed the grass off her knees. The fact that no one looked twice at the Egyptian girl, with her sandy-coloured headscarf and gold adornments, spoke volumes about the sheer amount of strange people that passed through Domino city in pursuit of duels or KaibaCorp technology.

Spotting her boyfriend watching her, Mana grinned happily.

"Mokuba!" She chirped, throwing her arms around him "was KaiKai awful mad that I was there? He's such a meanie! Seth could be grumpy to, but he didn't yell, and Mahad was only strict if I was being silly, but they weren't like him, but he's nice to you so that's okay, and-"

She squeaked, her rambling cut off when Mokuba leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. With a smile, he took her hand and gently linked their fingers.

"Wanna get something to eat? I forgot to grab breakfast before I left."

Blushing so fiercely it showed even on her dark skin, Mana nodded.

So they began walking toward the centre of the city, Mokuba leading the way. They made a bit of an odd couple, but even newcomers to the city could recognize the boy as Seto Kaiba's kid brother, and therefore knew it could very well be a death sentence to look at him the wrong way.

Not that Mokuba noticed. He was too busy enjoying how happy Mana looked as she slurped her over-large chocolaty coffee drink, and munched on her pocky. He'd tried to convince her to have something a bit more solid for breakfast, but she'd just smiled and shook her head. Then again, his chocolate parfait was hardly a fitting choice for the first meal of the day either, so he could understand why she ignored him. Or didn't care. It was hard to tell which one it was with her, sometimes. With a smirk, he noticed she'd gotten whipped cream on her nose.

"Hey Mana, hold still, okay?"

"Huh? Why?"

Startled, Mana froze in place as Mokuba tilted her chin up, leaned over…And used his sleeve to wipe her face clean.

"M-Mokuba!"

Laughing at her look of embarrassed outrage, he scooted over on the bench, to get out of range of any possible retaliation. But Mana was quicker, and soon she had him pinned down as she tickled him mercilessly. They were both laughing uncontrollably as they goofed around, and that was how Seto found them.

A normal person would have burst into flames (or hysterics) from the look on the CEO's face, but the two youngsters just ignored him, enjoying themselves too much to care. But it was never a good idea to ignore Kaiba, and he grabbed them both by the collar and forcibly separated them.

"Stop acting like hooligans. Mokuba, you're coming home. I don't care what you do," he sneered at Mana, "as long as you don't follow us."

And without waiting for an answer from either of them, he walked briskly away, dragging his younger brother along.

Still grinning, Mokuba waved to Mana with one hand, even as he tried to pry his Brother's hand off his shirt with the other. He knew that the only reason his Brother had come to look for him was because he was worried. Working himself free, he looked back to check if Mana was heading home. It took all of Mokuba's will to not start laughing again when he finally noticed her, skipping just slightly ahead of his Brother's long strides.

She smirked cheekily at the irate business man. "You can't do anything, 'cause I'm not following you~!"

With a glower seemingly etched into features, Kaiba grabbed Mana, lifted her, and deposited her behind them. And then literally snarled when she ran back in front of them. With an almost-pout, Mokuba tugged on his Brother's sleeve. Mana, catching on to her boyfriend's plan, caught hold of Kaiba's other arm, and did her very best attempt at a tearful, begging look.

"Come on Brother, can't she come too? Pleeeaaase?"

"I'll be super good Kaiba! I'll even be extra quiet for you!"

Faced with two pairs of pleading eyes, one of them belonging to the one person he actually cared about in the entire world, not to mention the risk of having his favourite coat damaged, Kaiba had only one response.

"H-Hmph!"

Taking Mana's hand with a smile, as his Brother stalked away like an affronted cat, Mokuba whispered quietly in her ear, so his Brother couldn't hear.

"That means yes."