He pinched the edge of the collar of the cleanly pressed dress shirt sitting in his luggage, smoothing out a slight crease in the fabric. His lips thinned into a straight line as he continued to sift through his belongings. Everything was neatly organized into his medium-sized roller bag: clothes, toiletries...and his laptop and card deck were packed into his briefcase. He was a minimalist when it came to traveling, never packing a shirt or toothbrush more than he needed.

He zipped up his bag and hauled it from his bed to the floor, extending the handle and rolling it back and forth just once to check the wheels. He then dipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, squinting at the screen for the time. Just a little over two hours until the flight. Perfect.

After briefly checking his room to see if he missed anything, he grabbed his briefcase, quietly exited, and made his way down the grand staircase towards the foyer. He quirked an eyebrow when he noticed he was the only Kaiba brother here. Rolling his eyes, he made a half-turn and glared at the staircase. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the sound of a slamming door interrupted him. Sure enough, a tall figure came barreling down the stairs. His own roller bag thumped against every marble step.

"I already said I was sorry!" Mokuba was busy babbling on his cell phone; he shouldered his backpack and adjusted the handle on his roller bag. "Hey, hey - I know...I promise I'll make it up to you. My brother and I eat there all the time; I'm sure I'll be able to snag another reservation as soon as I get back. This trip was kind of unplanned..." The younger Kaiba used his free hand to brush back his dark hair, removing the strands from his line of vision. Thank the gods he cut it when he started high school. "You know how businesses go. Stuff just springs up out of nowhere-" He paused for a moment to chuckle, completely unaware of the lone spectator watching him from a few feet away with a twitching brow. "-Of course! I'll be looking forward to it. I'll let you know about that reservation as soon as I can, okay? Alright, later!"

"Are you finished?" The older Kaiba's arms were impatiently crossed over his chest.

"Sorry you had to hear that." Mokuba grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "It's not my fault someone decided to make an impromptu business trip to New York three days ago." The boy shoved his phone into his jeans and rolled his luggage towards the front doors. "So, why do I have to come with you again?"

"Oh, I don't know," Seto rolled his eyes as he began to follow his brother out of the manor, "Because you're the company's vice president and only heir?"

Mokuba snorted as he descended the front steps. The limo was already parked and ready to go. "You make it sound as if you're about to keel over and die any day now. You're twenty-two, nii-san, not eighty-two."

Seto handed his luggage to the driver before crawling into the back seat. "Shut up." He promptly buckled his seatbelt and crossed his arms again. "You're also my younger brother, in case you've forgotten."

"I'm seventeen, bro," Mokuba laughed as he took the seat next to him. "I don't need you babysitting me anymore." The engine revved, and in a few moments they were moving.

"Tch," Seto scoffed. "Tell that to the press." He gritted his teeth when he caught Mokuba rolling his eyes. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You need to stop playing around, Mokuba - you may be young but you still have a reputation to keep up, and-"

"Hey, I know what I'm doing," Mokuba interjected, "and I don't need you telling me what to do. You know how the tabloids love making up stories about people. They just want something to talk about, that's all."

"And you're giving them something to talk about with your behaviour." Seto hissed. "I'm trying to run a company here, and it's difficult to do that when said company's vice president is too busy running around chasing skirts. You've got to grow up."

"Grow up?" The younger brother shook his head. "Look, bro, no offence or anything but I'm trying to live my life the way I want to before I let all the boring company stuff get to me. Contrary to popular belief, there's more to life than working all the time. I wanna have some fun first."

"This is your idea of fun?" Seto reached for his phone and pulled up the Internet browser. He quickly typed Mokuba's name into the search bar, and when the results came up he immediately read the first link. "Domino City's Very Own Bruce Wayne: Mokuba Kaiba was seen yet again with two girls on each arm last Friday night, walking out of the city's hottest sushi restaurant-"

"Bruce Wayne?" Mokuba's eyes were wide with an almost childlike awe, which only made Seto's blood boil even faster. "So they're calling me Batman now? Way cool."

"You're missing the point." Seto grumbled before putting away his phone. "I'm taking you to New York because I need to keep an eye on you, and for your information this wasn't exactly unplanned. The both of us were invited to a charity gala next weekend. I figured we could fly in early so we can get some work out of the way."

Mokuba sniggered, which prompted Seto to narrow his eyes. "You really think you can keep an eye on me, big brother? Fine, I accept your challenge." He yawned and placed both hands behind his head. "New York's a big place, you know. Lots of new people to meet."

"Don't get any ideas."

"What makes you think I haven't done anything before?"

"Mokuba!"