Age of Destiny
Chapter 1
" Mokuba!" Seto called as he closed the door behind him. " Tadaima!"
" Ni-sama!" Mokuba called, and Seto could hear the patter of feet on the floor upstairs as his brother rushed out. Hm, that is strange. Normally Mokuba would just call back to acknowledge him. He quickly recollected his brother's call to see if he could detect anything worrisome about it and decided Mokuba had simply sounded delighted.
" Check this out!" Mokuba shoved an envelope in Seto's face. Jerking back, Seto chose to look at the envelope instead of rebuking Mokuba for nearly poking his eye with the corner.
" What is it?"
" Read it! Read it!"
Seto laughed. It must be good news. " First put my coat away for me, will you?"
" Hai!"
As his brother helped to put his stuff away, Seto read the letter as he headed upstairs. A warm glow of pride grew in his heart. His brother had been accepted into a scholar's program. It would not have meant much—such programs have a tendency to chase after poor spoiled rich boys, but Mokuba had gotten in with a full scholarship, which is extremely difficult for someone of his background.
He grinned. Mokuba was, actually, smarter than Seto. As a younger brother it kind of went with the package. He will never be as wise as Seto, but if Seto some crafts easy to master, he was still probably no match for Mokuba in the long run. He heard Mokuba run up the stairs as soon as everything was put away.
" I got accepted! Did you read it did you read it?"
" Hai. Congrats." Seto rubbed his brother's ridiculously long hair. " I am so proud of you. By the way you should trim that mane of yours."
" Iie."
" Just you wait." Seto sniffed, grinning. " I'll convince you yet."
" You'll never convince me." Mokuba stuck his tongue out at his brother.
Oh, I will. Seto thought, recalling the designs of a certain character in a videogame. " Well, this calls for a celebration."
" Cake! You'll bake me a cake, right? Double chocolate? Chocolate ice cream?"
" Er…" Seto glanced at the clock, already feeling tired from the suggestion. " How about I buy one."
There was a time, Seto mused, when they had cooks for this kind of thing. When Gozaburo adopted him there had been people all around the house. When Gozaburo died Seto had discretely gotten rid of them all. He was young, Mokuba was young, they had needed protection from outsiders. But more importantly, they had needed protection from within, and all those employees and butlers and guards were loyal to Gozaburo. Seto remembered struggling for a while with this decision. To live alone, in this incredibly big mansion, and risk attack from whoever was outside, or to live with servants who would guard the house but would know the house well enough to harm them?
He had gone with the former. Of course, once he fired them he would run the risk of those seeking vengeance. So he did everything tactfully. He moved servants to other places, made recommendations, and soon everyone found a job before leaving. Some of them better, in one way or another. And the house was theirs. His and Mokuba's.
Of course, that meant Seto had to do the cooking. Or Mokuba, but since today was a day of successes—
" Let me change. Ow!" He exclaimed when Mokuba sprawled onto him and hit his ribs. " Hey, you, stop, right now. Calm down and let me change out of these pants." Mokuba giggled and let his brother go.
oO
Five minutes later Seto was heading out to the store to buy a cake for his brother. He could use delivery, but that meant showing too many people the mansion. He was really tempted to risk that today though—he felt downright worn. But he opted to go out anyway, making sure to lock the doors carefully when he left.
Buying from a nearby bakery is not so hard. What never ceased to amuse him was how his attire sort of became a part of him to people's eyes. Dressed in a trenchcoat and dress pants, no one had any trouble recognizing him as the great CEO of Kaiba Corp. Dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, he gets old ladies pinching him on the arm when he helped them cross the street, and cashiers who never even bat an eyelash, like right now, as they open the cash register to give him change. It was kind of like Superman's glasses. Once he puts them on no one has any clue he is the famous hero. Once he takes them off no one suspected he was what's-his-name? Clark. Except that is in a comic book.
Seto looked at the cakes, choosing the darkest and the brownest and the creamiest. He shared Mokuba's love for chocolate, not that he would ever admit it. But being the elder and the mentor of a boy who would gladly dine on chocolate and only chocolate for the rest of his life required a bit of restraint on Seto's part. He had to set some kind of example, so normally chocolate was not so common in the Kaiba household. Today though, Mokuba had defeated all odds. Seto could not put to words how proud he was of his brother.
Ice cream. Just what Mokuba wanted. Seto paid for the cake, which had the word " Congratulations!" written over it in cream and sprinkles. He glanced a little wistfully at the other children with their parents and headed out. No one recognized him.
Today was a good day. He was happy. Today was a worthwhile day. He was almost humming to himself as he walked back to the mansion, then slowed to a stop at the front gate.
There was a limousine. An empty limousine. Someone had dropped by. Nervous, Seto recalled he had specifically told Mokuba not to open the door to any strangers. Hoping the child heeded that advice, he entered the front gate and glanced at the front door.
It was open. It was broke open.
Fear tightening his throat, Seto rushed through the door and skidded to a halt as five guns pointed at him. The bag with the cake dropped to the floor.
" Well well well, you did not disappoint." Pegasus J. Crawford appeared from between the guards. The older man regarded the boy musingly.
He is so young. Pegasus thought idly, and with a bit of regret. Suffering and struggle had matured the youth into a much older figure, but he is only fifteen, and dressed as he was in a GAP sweatshirt and gray sweatpants made him look every inch his age, even with his expression frozen into that of impassive authority.
" What are you doing here." Seto demanded. " I did not imagine you were the type, Mr. Crawford."
" No." Pegasus replied. " It is not for some trivial matter, I assure you. However, I have need of your services."
Instead of brushing Pegasus off, as he would like to do, Seto asked, " What are they?"
He had no clue where Mokuba is. He was not sure if Pegasus found him already. It was possible the man already did. If not, he had to stall for time, warn Mokuba before the boy could give away his presence.
As if reading his mind, Pegasus smirked. " We have already found your brother, Kaibaboy." He waved at his men. The guards parted to reveal two men holding on to Mokuba, one of them pointing a gun to his head. Mokuba was already gagged and bound.
Seto tried not to visibly swallow the wave of panic that passed over him when he realized they already had his brother. " As I said," He repeated with all the composure he had learned over the years, " What are they?"
Pegasus smirked. He could feel a little pity for the tall boy in front of him. Seto had suffered, yet survived all odds. To force him into such a position tugged a little at his conscience. However, if all goes as planned, Seto will come out of it relatively unharmed.
" I need you to do two things, Kaibaboy." Pegasus decided to cut straight to the point. " I need you to find the owner of the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Seto blanched. " What?" He stared. Nani? There are four? He did not even know this.
" Yes, there are four." Pegasus closed his eyes. " I am afraid the fourth is released by mistake. But in any case, I need you to find the owner of the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon and win it from him."
" Him?" Seto's glowing blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. " You already know who it is."
" Not quite." Pegasus marveled at the boy's perception of details. " But I know it is a he. And I know he is here in Domino, and how to find him."
" Then why don't you find him yourself and ask for it back?"
" Ah ah," Pegasus gestured at his men. Mokuba struggled defiantly in spite of the gun digging into his temple, " You, I'm afraid, are in no position to ask questions, except do what I ask you."
Fear prevented Seto from rolling his eyes. It's easier to commit a crime than to ask this guy for a piece of paper. He really is nuts.
Pegasus ignored that thought. For all Seto's intelligence, the young Kaiba could not possibly understand the ultimate plan. " You are to get it back to me, either whole or in pieces. Understand?"
This time Seto swallowed. " And once I get it back to you, you will let Mokuba go."
Let him believe it for now. He has no choice, even if he is rightfully skeptical. " Yes."
Seto still hesitated. This is a very roundabout way. Something's not right here. " What do you need to get rid of this Blue Eyes so badly for?"
" Kaiba, my boy," Pegasus clucked his tongue reproachfully, " Haven't you ever been taught never to question your elders?"
" That's not how I got here and you know it." Seto growled. What does he want?
" That matters not." Pegasus waved his men out. They took Mokuba, still kicking and struggling—that kid has guts—out the mansion into the waiting limousine. Pegasus remained with the guards, who still had their guns trained on Seto. " Go to Domino High and find the one who has the fourth Blue Eyes White Dragon. Don't disappoint me. You are a smart child. I'm sure you know the consequences of failure. Oh, and no police, or you know, things might be unpleasant for dear little Mokuba…"
The door slammed shut behind him.
oO
Seto stood in the darkness for a long time, trying to grasp what just happened. He was not sure when he started sobbing, but he was not aware of it for a long time, and even when he was aware he could not stop. For the second time in his life Seto did not know what to do. The first time was when his parents died in that horrid car crash, and his life changed forever. Mokuba was in real danger, and Seto did not know how to save him.
He had been so naïve! He should have had security guards, at least, or something. He should have hired a staff when he turned fourteen, if only for Mokuba's sake. Another crew…but the house had been his and Mokuba's and theirs alone and for so long nothing like this has happened! But of course something like this was bound to happen. He was Seto Kaiba! He should have expected this!
Seto wiped the tears from his face and tried to control his hiccups. He was alone, without a friend or family now that Mokuba is gone and he had no one to turn for help. With effort he remembered he did not need anyone's help. He had managed this far, this was only another obstacle. He and Mokuba had survived so much together. Madmen will not take Mokuba away from him. He could figure out what to do. First, do as Pegasus says. Domino High…he can arrange some visit over to the school under pretense of donations or something…and sit in a few classes, hopefully someone will be showing off their Blue Eyes White Dragon during lunch or in between classes…Seto will just buy it off from them and return it to Pegasus and hopefully…hopefully Pegasus will return Mokuba to him…
Iie, Pegasus would not. There was something bigger, not to mention Pegasus would require something else to ensure Seto never reported him…Seto's eyes landed on the melting cake at the doorway. He fought the urge to burst into tears again. It was bewildering, what just happened, but he was Seto Kaiba.
Taking a deep breath, Seto took the cake and placed it in the fridge for when Mokuba comes back. Not if. Mokuba must come back. Even if Seto had to trade places with him.