My Brother's Protector

By StormesJay

Seto had been focusing on his deck for a while now. It was soon to be moments before the drawing to see who he would be facing in the finals of the Duelist City Championship. He had made it this far by ease, but now was where things got serious. No more stepping lightly. No more testing the waters. Now it was time to strike at his enemy until they fell to their knees, pleading for mercy. Seto didn't think of himself as a masochist, but there was some enjoyment in knowing that your opponent's chances of winning where under your control; their opportunities and reputation literally in your hands. It let him know he was still worth something. That he was strong.

He stood up, slipping his deck into its case before walking towards his door. It was just about time for him to go to the dinner before the drawing. He chose not to wear his coat outside of his room for now. It wasn't cold, nor did he wish to have it be 'accidentally' stained by Joey. He walked down the hallway, his stride straight and balanced. Many would say his way of walking had a fair amount of grace to it. He had been taught to be proper and graceful ever since he had been adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba. The teachings just seemed to engrave themselves into his demeanor. Whether he consciously chose to walk gracefully or not, he did.

He entered the banquet hall, seeing that everyone else had taken their assigned seats. Mokuba sat in the seat closest to Seto's, and the other duelists had taken their seats across from one another, while the VIP, Yugi Motou, sat across the entire banquet table from Seto. The other people who had 'tagged' along, were not seated at the main table, but had been given a table in the corner of the room. At least they got to sit in here rather than one of the bedrooms. They had no right to complain. Seto silently stalked over to his chair, sitting down calmly. He looked at each of his guests, his eyes narrowed. One of the seats was empty. No doubt, it was the mysterious eighth contestant, who chose to stay in her room.

As the servers and waiters flowed into the room, plates of dishes in hand, Seto was still silent. While everyone else marveled at the rare and delicious cuisine, it was nothing Seto hadn't eaten before on at least five occasions. He waited until the head cook said the words, "You may begin. Bon appetite." to even move. He didn't take any of the food at first. He would wait for everyone else to serve themselves first. He saw Joey immediately reach for the meat, taking two large slices and putting them onto his plate, then proceeding to load the entire plate to the rim with food.

"Goodness, Joey, it's not like this is your last meal." Yugi said in a surprised tone.

Joey gave him a cheeky grin. "Yeah, well… I don't get to eat this good very often. I might as well get as much as I can." He laughed.

Seto closed his eyes, letting an almost silent, quick huff through his nose. He reached forward, taking a small serving of rice and a slice of marinated beef. He had never been one for eating large amounts. He was the quietest in the room, simply watching the others observantly. Mokuba would occasionally look up at him, seeing if he was going to eat anything. Seto was always considered a 'stealth eater' by his younger brother. He was never actually seen eating, but he always finished his food. It's not like Mokuba was concerned about his weight or anything, since Seto was on the light side, but still healthy. It was much more of just a playful brother-to-brother interaction.

Joey looked up from his plate, making eye contact with Seto. He blinked. "What? What is it?" He said defensively.

Seto sat up a bit straighter, "Nothing. I'm just amazed with how fast food vanishes into your face, and how you don't mind taking with a half-masticated piece of beef in your mouth." He said, his face looking unimpressed.

Joey blushed, covering his mouth while he swallowed, "Say what? I'm sorry if my manners don't match up to yours, Mr. Fancy-Pants." He frowned, "I might not be as graceful in my eating, but at least I can say I've waked the streets and know the city. How many times do you leave your office or mansion? Twice annually?"

"Joey…" Yugi said his tone exasperated.

Seto tilted his head, "One: I don't own any sort of mansion. I live in an apartment. Two: What makes you think I haven't seen the city? I walk around almost everyday."

"That's not what I meant."

"The only other conclusion from you having 'walked the streets and known the city' is that you're a prostitute." Seto furrowed his brow.

Joey's cheeks flared up as he took a breath in through his nose, standing up, "What did you just call me?! I meant that I know what it's like to worry about how your family is going to pay the bills! Or having known what it's like to have faced hardship. Last time I checked, you grew up in the lap of luxury. Your adoptive father was rich! How could you have known what it is to face my kind of problems?"

Seto tensed. Where did all this come from? Why was Joey dumping this right now? He netted his fingers under his nose thoughtfully, "I can only assume you don't know what adoption means, Wheeler, otherwise you would know that I lost both of my parents."

"Tough. But you won the orphan lottery!" Joey growled. Yugi took a grasp of his sleeve, trying to tug him back into his seat.

Seto's face gained a hint of anger, "I did no such thing. You have no idea what it was like—"

"Oh, yes I do! You had to study more. You had to prove yourself. You had to fight to see your brother. I understand all that, but you don't understand what it's like to go hungry." Joey snarled.

Those words brought a memory to the front of Seto's mind. He remembered being huddled in the closet of his house, holding Mokuba so close that the two of them could feel each other's hearts beat. He remembered being in there for hours and hours, waiting for someone to come help him and his little brother. He remembered how much it hurt to be that hungry, how dizzy he felt from the lack of water, and how worried he was about his younger brother's feelings.

"Sef, I don't want this water. You need it." The young, dark haired boy said, pushing the water bottle away.

"Please, Mischa, please drink it. I don't need it. I'm fine." The older boy said in return, "Now drink. I wouldn't be able to handle it if you got sick. Please…"

Seto gritted his teeth. "You think I've never felt that? Who are you to judge?" He stood up, walking to an open space. "I've felt it before. I was so hungry it hurt, and dizzy enough to faint. I don't need your judgments, Wheeler. I'm secure in knowing that I've faced hardship."

Joey freed himself from Yugi's grip, stomping over to where Seto stood. Now Mokuba stood up, his eyes gaining a hint of worry. Joey glared at Seto. "You're an idiot if you think I'll buy into that. I can guess your type. You don't know what normal life is like because you've never been exposed to it! I bet you've been rich your entire life! I bet you've never had to decide between feeding your brother and feeding yourself!" Right then, at the moment, Joey finished his sentence, Seto's eyes widened with rage. His hands gripped themselves into fists, and moments later, Joey was on the floor, his nose having met impact with Seto's knuckles. He gripped his face wincing at the sudden pain, then looked up at Seto.

"You have no idea what I've had to face in my past, Wheeler!" Seto roared as everyone got up from their seats, prepared for anything. "You have no idea how much I've lost, how much pain I've had, or how many nightmares I have to relive in my sleep!" Joey bared his teeth in a growl, then leapt to his feet, just barely escaping Yugi taking hold of his shoulder. He gripped his hand into a fist, throwing an incredibly tight punch into Seto's cheek. Seto stumbled back, hearing Mokuba shout his name before opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was Joey rushing towards him, and before he could react, Joey's fist had buried itself in his gut.

Seto coughed, bending forward as the sharp sting of the blow shot throughout his whole body. Tristan was the first to try and step in, but was shoved off by both Joey and Seto. Seto threw a punch, hitting Joey square in the eye. Joey let out a grunt of pain before throwing two consecutive punches, the first one striking Seto in the mouth, and the other one hitting him in the jaw. Seto could feel his own heart racing, and his mind was blurred from the rush of adrenaline. He reached out, wrapping his arm around Joey's neck and bending him into a twist and crouching slightly. Joey reached behind him, grabbing hold of Seto's hair and giving it a good yank. Seto growled as he unconsciously lessened his grip, letting Joey escape. He saw Joey's nose was bleeding, and the skin around his eye was already beginning to darken and swell. He could feel the blood dripping down his own lip and nose, and felt the fresh air stinging against the fresh cut on his jaw. He heard a high voice screaming out, "Joey! Joey, please stop! Stop it!" He knew Joey had a younger sister, this must have been her. The distraction of Serenity's voice was enough to allow Tristan to wrap his arms around Joey, holding him back from another lunge at Seto.

Joey struggled for a moment, then relaxed a bit. Seto was ready to fight more, but he felt a pair of smaller hands gripping tightly onto his waist. He looked down, seeing Mokuba holding him back. "P-Please calm down!" Mokuba said quickly, his face on the verge of tears. Seto suddenly lost the anger he felt before, his face relaxing. The only sounds remaining in the room as the figh settled were Seto and Joey's panting. Seto fell silent as he wrapped his arm around Mokuba's shoulder, coming to realize what he had done. He looked in Joey's direction, seeing Yugi pushing him in the opposite way. He looked back down, seeing the tears falling down Mokuba's cheeks. Those grey eyes always seemed to sober Seto from any emotion that was clouding his judgment. He felt Mokuba's hands slip down to take a hold of his hand. "Come on… Let's get you cleaned up."

"I don't want to be 'cleaned up'. Take me to my room…" Seto said plainly. He lifted his head to look in the other group's way. "There's an infirmary room down the left hall. Take Wheeler there. The drawing is postponed."

Joey looked back at Seto for a moment as he was guided out, his eyes still filled with anger at the entire situation.

Mokuba looked over his shoulder as the cold water from the faucet dampened his cloth. Seto was sitting silently in his seat, slightly slumped with his hand propping up his head, staring at the open first-aid kit on the table in front of him. It was obvious that he was paying for the fight from earlier. He softly walked back to the chair across from Seto, sitting down and reaching up, brushing his brother's hair out of his face and gently pressing the cold, wet cloth against the cut on his jaw. Seto tensed and pulled back, not quite ready for the sensation of that cut coming back. Mokuba sighed a bit. "Seto, I need to clean the cuts, at least." Seto looked at him for a moment, then nodded, leaning back against the cloth. Mokuba quietly and softly swept the cloth over the wound, wiping the blood away. Seto looked at his brother after a moment, watching his ace as he tended to his cuts.

He felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He shouldn't have done that in front of Mokuba. He should have restrained himself. He could see the worry all over Mokuba's face, and it made him feel terrible that even for a moment his little brother had to feel that. He felt his emotions building up, and the odd sensation in his nose that gave him warning that he was close to crying. He gulped, then said almost silently, "I'm sorry."

Mokuba looked him in the eye, his eyebrows furrowing and his lips curling a bit in sympathy, "It's… It's okay. I'm fine. I think the only one who needs an apology is Serenity. She was scared witless."

"But so were you." Seto replied, "… and I should have realized that. I don't think I've ever gotten into a fight like that in front of you." He paused to wince as he felt the sting from the cut on his nose being wiped clean.

Mokuba sighed out his nose. "… I was scared. I didn't want to see you get hurt. Don't get me wrong—I think Joey got what was coming to him—but I had never seen you like that before. Ever." He became silent as he lowered the cloth, "Seto? What happened to our parents? You've never said anything specific before."

Seto's face dropped as he narrowed his eyes to fight back tears. "Mokuba," he started, "Sometimes it's better to remember our parents for the good memories, and not the bad. Please… don't make me tell you. Not right now. I… I don't think I can handle it."

Mokuba was silent for a moment, his face unreadable. Then, he stood up, reaching out and hugging Seto around the neck. Seto was surprised by the move, letting out a gust of breath, then blinking as he slowly raised his hand to touch his brother's back. Mokuba smiled. "It's okay, Big Brother. I won't ask if it hurts. I don't want to hurt you. Brothers protect each other, even if they're the smaller ones."

Seto sat there, hushed by Mokuba's words. He felt the tears starting to roll down his cheeks as he said in a shaky voice, "Mokuba…" He lifted his other hand, hugging his younger brother tightly, burying his face into his shoulder. "Thank you, Mokuba." He hadn't realized it before, but Mokuba protected him as much as he protected Mokuba, and Mokuba was just as strong in heart as he was. They were a force to be reckoned with. The Kaiba brothers would be together forever… to catch each other when they'd fall.

End.