Thicker Than Water:

Chapter 1

After Seto's mother died giving birth to his brother, he and Seto were sent to the orphange, since there was no one left to care for them because Their father abandoned the family before Seto's brother was born. They were adopted by Gozaburo 10 years later. Now 6 years after being adopted, something will happen that will change their lives, and the lives of two others, forever…

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Seto rushed down the hall. He was late. He had promised to take Mokuba to Pizza Hut after school, and he didn't want to let Mokie down. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. Suddenly, he heard someone call after him, "Master Seto, I have something very important to tell you! It's…"

"Not now." Seto said, "If it doesn't concern the ultimate distruction of Kaiba Corp, I don't need to know untill after I've had my fill of pizza."

"But, sir, I think you'll find this more important than…" The servant began.

"More important than Mokuba?" Seto said, laughing, "You must be joking."

"Sir, if you won't listen to me, at least get back with Mokuba by 6:00. This is of the greatest urgency, I think, for you, and if I were you…"

"You're not me." Seto said with a cold glare as he stepped into his limo, "So I wouldn't talk… if I were you and I wanted to keep my job. I'll humor you an be here at 6:00, but I trust you to take care of all the details." Seto said as he shut the door.

He turned to the driver and said, "To Mokuba's school." The limo driver sped off.

They got to Mokuba's school just as he stepped out of the door. His eyes lit up as he saw the limo waiting for him, and he ran to it, throwing open the door, and jumping on his brother, giving him a huge hug.

"Ni Sama!" Mokuba said, sitting down next to Seto and taking his backpack off, "I had the best day at school ever!"

Of course, he always said that any days that Seto was there to pick him up, but Seto didn't point that out. Instead, he asked, "What made today so great?"

"Well," Mokuba began, "We had art class today, and I painted a picture of you… but that wasn't so great… I thought it was the best picture in the world, but some of the other kids kept teasing me about it." Mokuba said as he pulled out a piece of paper. It had a painstakingly painted picture of Seto in reds and browns, but over it was a big, black X.

"Why is there an X over it?" Seto asked, "Did one of the other kids do that, because if they did, I'll make them…"

"No, Ni-Sama, I did. " Mokuba said. Seto stared at him in surprise. "Why did you do that?" Seto asked. "Well," Mokuba replied, "I… all the other kids had painted 3 pictures, and I only had one. I… I knew I was gonna dissappoint you by not getting as many done, and plus, you don't really care about my artwork, yours is much better…"

It was true, spectactular though Mokuba's painting was, Seto's were better. Seto, in his spare time, fleeting though it was, would do marvelous oil paintings, drawings, and charcoals, mostly of Mokuba.

Seto sighed, "Look, it doesn't really matter if I'm better than you. It doesn't matter if they got 10 more than you done. All that matters is that you did a good job…." Seto paused, "… and I think I've seen a bit of improvement in the past few months."

Mokuba looked down, "So it doesn't… it doesn't matter what I think, so long as everyone else likes it?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's how the world works, Mokie." Seto said, ruffling Mokuba's hair, "I think you're catching on."

The car came to a halt as they reached Pizza Hut. They ordered a large peperoni pizza, and had a great time. Mokuba even persuaded Seto to put a slice of pizza on top of his head, then eat it. Seto had just finished the last bite, when suddenly, his watch beeped. 6:00. He was supposed to be at some sort of a meeting right now…

"Mokuba," Seto said, "We've got to go." He laid a 100$ on the desk up front, then went to his limo.

"To the mansion, and hurry." Seto said.

They sped along the streets, and before they knew it, they were at the doors of the mansion. Parked in their visitor's driveway was an old car. Not so old as to be valuable, yet not new by any standards.

What's going on here? Seto thought as he walked up to the house, Mokuba following behind.

The servant from that morning was waiting at the door. "This way, quickly," He said as he rushed along the corridors.

When they finally got to the room, Seto couldn't believe what he saw. The boy sitting here was tall and thin, and was probablly around 15, a year younger than Seto. He had hair that went down to around his neck, and an outfit that could only be classified as punk. But, although these things disgusted Seto, they were not what surprised him. He was surprised because this man was, by the looks of it, Mokuba, only some years later who had fallen under desperate straights.

Seto sat and stared. The man approached, but did not make the slightest acknowledgement of Seto's presence. Instead, he walked staright over to Mokuba. He knelt down, and looked him in the eyes. "So," the man said, "You're the one."

He stuck out his hand, "I'm Raidon, nice to meet you."

Seto grabbed the man's hand and said, "I don't know what business you chould possibly have here, but I would be the one you wanted to meet."

Raidon pulled his hand back, and said, "No, I came here for my brother, not some snob."

"I have no idea," Seto said through gritted teeth, "Where your brother is, but he is most certianly not here."

Raidon glared at Seto, "Don't play stupid, my brother's right here," He motioned to Mokuba, "and although you may not LIKE the fact that he's not your brother, that he's in all likelyhood, MY brother, that doesn't mean you can deny it." He grabbed Mokuba's hand.

Seto's temper flared, "Why… you… how dare you lie to me, in MY house, in front of MY brother like that!" Seto was about to hit Raidon, but his servant had held back his hand.

"Let go!" Seto said furiously.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hit him. Then he'd definitely have a lawsiut. What he says is true, sir. He was working in the orphinage where you stayed the day after your mother died, and he grew up, sorting files, when he found that the contents of two files had been switched. The contents of his brother's folder and yours. He looked more in-depth and found that there had been a mix-up the day the both of you came into the orphinage. He also found pictures, and found that the picture of your brother looked like him when he was young, and that his brother was almost identical to the picture of you kept on file. Because he doesn't have the money for DNA testing, all he asks is that his brother stays here, and your brother comes with him for a period of four days, and then let them decide where they want to live."

Seto's servant pulled him to the side.

"We'll have to do a little DNA testing of our own… Make sure to get a sample off that… that… that person before he goes… but let NO ONE know. If the testing turns out that I'm not Mokuba's brother…"

"I understand, sir" The servant said, " but you must understand rivals of Kaiba Corp. are sure to jump in and add monetary support to the boy's side if he were to file a lawsiut against us, and the goal of the other companies would be to remove Mokuba from your custody permanently, so the best thing that we can do is let Mokuba go with him… You know he'll choose to stay with you, so I figured…"

Seto pushed the servant aside and walked back to Raidon, "I'll agree to your terms, so long as you let me come and see Mokuba every day, and…"

Raidon shook his head, "Sorry, that's not going to happen. He stays four days with me, no interruptions."

Am I going to let this guy get the best of me? Seto thought, but yet… there's really no other choice.

"Alright," Seto said, "but you have to sign a contract that Mokuba will come to no physical or mental harm while he's in your care."

Raidon shrugged, "Sure." He said.

"Oh, and I suppose you want to see your new brother too?" Raidon asked.

Seto merely glared back.

"Hey, Makishi!" Raidon yelled.

A boy walked into the room. Immediately, Mokuba saw the resemblance. He flipped open his locket and compared the boy in front of him with the picture inside. They were almost identical, except for the chlothes and the eyes. The boy was wearing a red vest that had once been a jacket, but was cut into the shape of a vest to save the expense of buying a vest, and under that was a black shirt. The difference between the eyes was what struk Mokuba. Makishi's eyes were drastically different from Seto's in the picture. They were cold and uncaring, unlike the warm, loving ones in the photo. However, he could swear he had seen those exact eyes before. He looked up to ask Seto and realized that these boy's eyes were the same as Seto's now. He didn't trust them, but then again, he didn't have much choice. He had heard Seto and his servant talking, and knew he had to do his part, for the good of Kaiba Corp.

There was silence as the two parties evaluated each other. There was clearly mistrust among them, but none wanted to say it. Finally, Raidon broke the silence, "Come on, kid, let's go." He said, motioning for Mokuba to follow. Mokuba squeezed his brother's hand tight, trying to convey that he was doing this for thegood of Kaiba corp. He looked up and saw Seto, a faint smile on his lips. Then he turned to leave, and followed Raidon out to his car.

END CHAPTER 1

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Okay, a big thankies and a hug to Shaylo for editing this story and helping me make it better

This is promising to be one of my best stories yet, so even if it doesn't seem too good now, give it time -

Yeah, and I'm going back and finishing my stories that need to be finished, so if there's one you've been waiting for, odds are there's gonna be a chapter or two posted in the near future (There's only, like, 2 that I'm not finishing)

-Kura