Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
I.
Mokuba's eyes narrowed. Nisama couldn't hide it. He might pretend that the silver cuffs were a new fashion statement. Something hip and cool to go with the new trench coat, but Mokuba knew otherwise.
He hadn't noticed it at first. So intent was he on grabbing his brother and making sure he was safe and whole and not one of the fake duelists of Pegasus' he hadn't even noticed.
Hadn't noticed when Nisama flew the helicopter back to Domino, joystick firmly between his knees, hands steady and oh-so-pale.
Hadn't noticed when Nisama had stood, straight and proud, facing down the Big Five. Or later, when he lay strapped in the virtual pod. And, of course, in the virtual world, Mokuba had had bigger concerns to worry about.
But even Kaiba Seto couldn't keep back a wince that night when he took up his chopsticks.
It was then that Mokuba realized that his brother's wrists had been thoroughly smashed.
They didn't speak of it.
The cuffs became an addition to Nisama's wardrobe the very next day.
Mokuba badgered the truth out of the Kaiba Corp physician, a kindly man who was, nevertheless, ineffective. He'd rather take the money and carefully sew up stitches on young boys' backs than take those same young boys out of a harmful situation. Mokuba despised him, but he knew how to use him.
It eventually transpired that Pegasus had destroyed both of Nisama's wrists.
Steel rods and pins—cemented into those cuffs—were all that kept his brother's hands functioning. Simply put, there were no bones left to repair. Typing, playing cards, and any sort of video game were totally out of the question. Kaiba Seto was not supposed to do more than lift a dinner plate and not even that.
Mokuba knew it must have been agony for Nisama, especially since Nisama didn't believe in pain medication. He began to watch for the winces, the sudden and rapid blinks, when Nisama wrote programmed a line of code or chopped vegetables.
He began to make a point of saying, "I love you," before he went to bed.
Nisama ignored it like he ignored the pain in his wrists.