Unintended
by Faery Goddyss

"Sir, the buyout of LG and Sons went perfectly."

"Of course it did," he muttered to himself.

"Stocks are up 9.7 percent!"

"We did just release the new console," he said as he looked to the third board member expectantly.

"Kaiba Land Germany is set to open at the end of this year. Things are far ahead of schedule."

"As they tend to be," he dully noted.

"You're now the fifteenth richest person in the world."

Seto Kaiba paused at this news before he frowned. "I suppose I owe Mokuba that dog he wanted now."

His four board members eyed him curiously at his last statement. What they didn't know, and what he had no plans on sharing was that only earlier this week he and Mokuba had gotten into a bit of an argument over his rank in the world. Mokuba bet, in jest at the time, that if his brother broke top twenty of the most well off he'd get to have a pet. And he'd always wanted a dog. Seto agreed. After all there were many multi-millionaires even a handful of billionaires. The chances of him being in the top twenty were slim to none. Or so he had assumed.

Damn. He really wasn't that fond of animals.

In any case he and his members were in one of his smaller conference rooms that were closer to Kaiba's personal office. It was the middle of their usual end of the week meeting but his mind was far from its usual analytical focus. In most cases he was recently feeling he had no reason to be. This new board was proving their worth, even if they were a bit…over enthusiastic. Then again, after the Big Five he had decided that old rich men, save Rolland, would no longer be in his service.

His new board consisted of four up and coming members. Two males, two females. One in charge of eyeing the competition and deciding who and what needed to be approached, bargained with, or bought out; a lawyer. Another was in charge of the stocks and all those who invested in Kaiba Corps; a financial analyst. The third was in charge of affiliates, community service, and other divisions not directly a part of Kaiba Corps main business; a true business guru. And the last spent the majority of his time carefully watching the media; public relations. It was a small well rounded team he and his brother had personally handpicked and selected.

The only problem with this newer, younger group of board members was they tended to, more often than not, speak out of turn.

"Sir if I may speak on a personal matter?" One of the female board members asked and Kaiba slowly turned his head to glance at her.

"No, you may not," he answered her bluntly before standing. "If you're all done with your reports?" He asked looking over them, eyeing them critically. Each one gave their silent nod and without another word he left the room.

There was one thing more he didn't particularly care for concerning his new board. Being younger, though really they were all in their late twenties – early thirties, they weren't as subtle about their gossip. For the second the conference room door was tightly closed the "hushed" whispers and talk began.

In another day, another time they would have been fired. But the whispers were of concern for him and the way he'd been acting as of late, so he let it go. Though he would make sure they noticed the lack of bonuses in the upcoming new quarter.

Making his way back to his office he divvied out a few orders to passerby's whose names he did not quite remember, and occasionally stopped to clarify or rather bark corrections at a few employees. When he made it to his office he carefully sat down in his chair and swiveled it around to glance out the floor to ceiling window that stood behind him.

He'd had it custom made during the buildings renovations a few years back. It provided him with a full view of the entire city and of the cities far beyond it. When it was made he wanted it for purely egotistical reasons. He enjoyed the idea of looking down at the world and its people. But now…he turned his chair back to his desk and away from his window.

As he was about to begin overlooking a few papers his office phone rang and the button that lit up told him it was from the front reception desk. He hit the speaker button and continued to work. "What is it?" He asked automatically.

"Mr. Kaiba you have a delivery," said the clipped unfriendly tone of his receptionist. They didn't like each other so they got along fine.

"I wasn't expecting any deliveries," he said as he gave a signature of approval for a design idea on a new game in the works.

"I wouldn't have imagined you would, but sir these are from your brother."

Kaiba paused. His brother? Anything Mokuba had to send him he could easily drop off himself and avoid this.

"And what exactly is my brother having delivered?"

There was a hesitation in his receptionist's voice which peaked his interest as his mind began to go over every possible option for what he was receiving.

"They're…it's a bouquet of personalized balloons."

"Balloons?"

"Yes sir."

Just what was his younger brother getting at? He didn't think he had told his brother he didn't like balloons, but knowing his character he'd assume something like that would have been inclined.

"Mr. Kaiba?" His receptionist spoke over the speaker.

"What?" He asked, still distracted over the thought of a bouquet of balloons invading his building.

"…I wasn't aware it was your birthday."

Ah.

"Send them up," he said gruffly and ended the call.

To be perfectly honest he hadn't been aware it was his birthday either. He had gotten up this morning and been at work long before Mokuba was even awake. There were a few things he wanted to take care of early this morning otherwise he was sure his brother would have reminded him with a cheerful 'Happy Birthday Seto!' as he tended to do.

He was wondering if he should be bothered by the fact that he had forgotten his own birthday. Today he'd been alive for twenty years. Then again it didn't mean much, except that he could legally drink. But he'd been drinking for years though it was only at political functions, media events, and the like. Social drinking to win over others, that was all.

Just as he realized that his mind was actually wandering there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said loudly and watched as the delivery man entered his large office with no less than fifty balloons. He raised an eyebrow in surprise at the amount and glanced over at them all. Some were in fact personalized as some had his name sprawled over them; others were the smaller plainer accent balloons. And one said: Happy Birthday Big Brother! Love, Mokuba.

He gestured to the flustered delivery boy as to where he could drop the extremely awkward looking bouquet. When the boy did so he stood back up and eyed Seto, who eventually tore his eyes from the balloons to eye him back.

Right.

"My receptionist will give you your tip," he said, answering the unasked question. The boy nodded and left him alone with his birthday present.

Standing from his chair he walked wearily over to the slightly waving bunch of plastic. Though he didn't exactly care for them, he cared for the idea that his brother had bought them for him and had them sent to his office. Almost on cue his cell phone rang and without looking at the caller ID he answered.

"You're supposed to be in class," he said.

"Happy birthday Seto!" His brother's cheerful voice rang over the phone. "And it's lunch break," he added. "Did you get your present?"

"The balloons? Yes, I only just received them."

"Do you like them?"

"Not particularly," he answered honestly, but instead of being slightly offended his brother only started to laugh.

"I didn't think you would, but I thought it'd be fun. What else was I supposed to get you? You have everything."

He grunted in approval as Mokuba had a point.

"So instead of having the limo pick me up from school, I thought you should pick me up and we could go have a late birthday lunch for you."

"I have a lot of work to do today," he told him as he found his way back to his desk. He appreciated his brother's call but he'd have to work and talk. That was how he always did things.

"You have a lot of work to do everyday," the younger voice proclaimed. "Seto, it's your birthday. We have to do something. And besides you've been off for days now, don't think I haven't noticed and…I'm starting to worry."

Worry? His brother was starting to worry because he was acting off? He didn't think he was acting that different…then again, he thought back to his conference meeting and the gossip that followed after he had left. No doubt one of his female board members was going to inquire about his lack of participation during the meeting.

And then there was of course his lack of interest in his window, and he was working earlier and staying later than usual. And there was a feeling of…he couldn't quite place the feeling as he hadn't felt it before. But yes, he supposed he was acting off and it seemed everyone was noticing.

"Fine," he sighed. "But only for an hour, then you'll need to return home and attend to your studies is that understood?"

"I know," Mokuba said sounding slightly annoyed. But he cheered up instantly, "wouldn't it be better if I came to your office and did my homework there? That way we'd get to spend the rest of your birthday together."

"If that's what you'd like," he said withholding his sigh.

"It is."

He could practically hear his little brother grinning through the phone. "Well I'm going to go eat now, but make sure you're not late in picking me up. I get out at-"

"2:15," Seto finished and his brother laughed lightly.

"Bye Seto and try to enjoy your birthday a little bit even at work okay?" Mokuba said and hung up the phone before his older brother could give him a reply.

Enjoy his birthday at work? He didn't enjoy his birthday in general. Besides his brother's celebratory mood, to him it was no different than any other day. He still awoke at some God awful hour, went to work. Had his meetings, phone calls, telecomm conferences, paperwork, received his usual good news about where the company was headed… Nothing was different. Everyday was the same.

As Seto thought this over he poked one of the balloons absentmindedly.

Was that what was bothering him lately? Was he actually…bored?

Opting to rest on one of the little couches that graced his room, he thought about this notion.

That company he had just bought, was it LB Suns? He'd already forgotten the name. Point being they weren't a huge threat to his own business, they were far too small, but he took few chances. He didn't get to where he was simply by being the best at what he did. On occasion he'd buy out the smaller businesses.

It used to put a smirk on his face. He was almost a monopoly at this point and he was only nineteen, well twenty, years old. Now, it did nothing for him. Of course, he told himself, he was the best. That was who he was, who he molded himself to be. This was the life he had strived for the second he met Gozuboro Kaiba, but now…

Well, now things felt…different. He felt nothing for his incredible successes. He was still Seto Kaiba, teenage, damn twenty year old genius, multi-millionaire of a constantly growing company. There were little bumps in his life. Mokuba was perfectly happy, the new console was sold out everywhere, and Kaiba Land would eventually rival Disney Land.

It seemed God himself, if he existed, was smiling down on his life and blessing him at every corner he turned. He ought to be happy, not outwardly showing of course, but internally he should feel that triumph he felt in the beginning when he was just starting. But he didn't, not anymore.

And that was a problem. He couldn't allow his feelings of…boredom, to get in the way of his performance. He wouldn't allow it. When exactly had this started? He could pinpoint just a few weeks ago, but if he was honest with himself it had probably started right after high school which meant it started a couple years ago.

Well, he stood from his couch and headed straight for his desk. He had work to do. He could sort out his feelings, or lack thereof, later. He wasn't fifty, so it wasn't a mid life crisis. And he wasn't quite twenty-five so he wasn't victim to a quarter life crisis either. He was just bored. And boredom would eventually go away.

As he raced through his work he left himself a good stopping place at about 1:50 so he could pick up his brother from school, as promised. He left behind a few notes and explanations to one of secretaries and vowed he'd be back in a little over an hour before he took his personal car and left.

Pulling up to Mokuba's school he was pleased to watch as his brother made his way out of the building with a nice handful of friends. They were all talking cheerfully and Mokuba was doing the same. His brother used to be so reclusive, like him, so he was glad the boy had found his niche. He supposed he owed that mostly to Yugi, but that was neither here nor there anymore. He'd barely thought of the odd haired duelist as of late though he was aware that Mokuba spent a good portion of his time over at that game shop with him and the short teen's cheerleaders.

He snorted. There was a group of people he never wanted to cross paths with again if he could help.

"Seto!" He heard his brother's voice call out and his mind snapped back to the present. He watched his brother say his goodbyes to his friend before he climbed into the small, yet efficient sports car. "Good thing you're on time," the younger Kaiba brother said as he buckled himself in. "We have a reservation."

"Do we?" He asked in slight amusement.

"Yeah. I know you've got work so I made sure it was a place nearby. You've heard of 'Ringo' right?"

Seto nodded his head as he pulled onto the street. He'd never been to the restaurant but he'd heard it had fair reviews.

Once they pulled into the restaurant Mokuba bounded out while he took his time following behind his brother. They were immediately seated and he made sure to ignore all the stares in his direction. He was on the news almost every other day; you'd think people would be used to seeing his face.

They were taken to a more private dining area and as he sat he decided he liked the place, if for its warm comfortable colors and low lighting alone. He'd wait to give his final opinion until he had the food. As he looked through the menu it became apparent that he was a getting an intense look from the boy sitting across from him.

"Yes?" He questioned his little brother while his eyes stayed on the menu.

"Nothing, I'm just glad we're spending your birthday together."

Seto looked up from his menu and gave his brother one of his rare warm smiles. "Me too, now quit staring at me and think of something to eat."

"It'd be an even better birthday next year of there was someone else with us, wouldn't it?"

Kaiba felt his eyes narrow as he placed his menu to the side. He'd have a steak dish. "And who exactly would this third person be?"

His brother shrugged as he set his own menu down. "No one in particular, only it's been just the two of us for a really long time. It wouldn't hurt to add in a third party."

"You're too young to be dating," he said as he flagged down the waiter.

He watched his brothers cheeks stain with red, "not me!" He protested annoyed. "You!"

"Mokuba I date plenty."

"But they're just business dates, and you've never really liked any of them. And neither did I!"

"This conversation which has barely begun is now over. Drop it."

His little brother instantly released a sigh and he watched him pout as the waiter appeared and ask for their order. After they gave it, the man left the two brothers alone once more.

"Just thought that since you'd been out of sorts lately it was because you were lonely or something," the younger Kaiba muttered even though his brother had specifically told him to leave the conversation be.

Seto noted that his brother was right about him being out of sorts, but the last thing he needed was some loud screeching demanding woman attached to his arm. He simply didn't have the patience or the energy. Not to mention women in his social circle were entirely predictable with their conniving ways. If he ended up with someone they'd have to have never heard of his name. And as that was completely impossible, unless he searched for a partner in the middle of the Amazon, he was prepared for a life without permanent companionship.

"You know, my friend has this older sister," Mokuba started up again and Seto gave his brother a hard cold stare. "Fine," said the black haired teenager when he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere.

More than eager to change the subject Kaiba remembered something from earlier. "I owe you a pet," he said and he noticed how his brother instantly perked.

"What do you mean?"

He explained his new status and his brother wasted no time in cheerful celebration. "I knew you'd rise!" Mokuba confidently said. "And I know of this awesome shelter at the edge of to-"

"Shelter?" He interrupted. "I don't think so. I'll gather a few names of some respectable dog breeders. If we are going to have an animal in the house it's going to be a purebred."

"A purebred! Seto, that's such a waste! There are so many animals that need homes. Don't you know that they'll just be put to sleep if someone doesn't adopt them? I don't want a purebred; I want a dog from a shelter!"

Seto eyed the fire in his younger brother's eyes. If he wasn't careful Mokuba would end up an activist and that was not something he wanted to deal with.

"Alright," he said grudgingly.

And as their food was brought they spent the next couple hours going over what sort of dog Mokuba would prefer. Of course he couldn't be certain he'd get the sort he wanted as shelters were more of a pish posh array of animals, but he enjoyed talking about it. And as much as he personally wasn't looking forward to some wild mutt running loose in his mansion it made his brother happy, and to him that was a far better birthday present than anything.

When they returned Kaiba Corps, Seto was pleased to see his brother diligently getting to work on his homework on one of the small couches. He discreetly watched his brother prop himself up on the back of the couch with his legs pulled up slightly so he could read and write a little easier.

Occasionally his brother would ask for his help on something, but Mokuba was an overall good student. Which was expected as he was a Kaiba, so he didn't need that much assistance.

Meanwhile he set to work on his computer and began dealing with the reports he hadn't been able to deal with the three hours, not one, he had been gone. It wasn't until he heard the soft snore that his insistent typing halted. And as he glanced up at his brother he realized that it was nine in the evening. He'd been working four hours non stop and he hadn't realized it.

Mokuba was fast asleep and a good portion of his staff was probably long gone. He rang for Rolland and the man answered right away.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"To my office, I'd like you to take Mokuba home. He seems to have fallen asleep on my couch."

"Yes sir," the older man said and within minutes he showed up. Kaiba remained sitting behind his desk and nodded his head in the direction of his brother.

"I'll take home his things," he told his most trusted man. "Make sure he doesn't wake up. I'm sure a fifteen year old boy wouldn't appreciate being carried to bed."

Rolland nodded, and without a sound carefully picked up the younger Kaiba brother and left the elder one to finish his business. Without taking another moment to pause, Kaiba returned to his typing and to his work. When he felt a crick in his neck he glanced at the clock. It was near one in the morning now. The very thought annoyed him seeing as how he had to be back in the office no later than eight. Saving all his documents and gathering his brothers school books and notebooks he packed everything away in his briefcase.

He needed to get home.

At the same time when he entered his car after setting the security alarm he realized he wasn't quite ready to go home. Going home after a long day at work was something he always did. It'd be following the pattern he was so tired of. Sure today had been a little different with getting the balloons, with it being his birthday, and with his brother bringing up his lack of a significant other. But it was still technically a usual day. And since it was his birthday…or it had been an hour ago he decided he ought to do something different.

Though there wasn't much he could do at this time at night. Everything should have been closed and as he drove down the main streets he realized everything was closed, except a couple twenty-four diners and he was in no mood to eat.

He continued to drive around aimlessly not even noticing he had crossed into the more lower class area of town until he was in the heart of it. He sighed. This was irritating. Maybe he would just go home. Nothing interesting was open. And as he was about to turn his car around and do just that, his eyes caught the name above a small building that held one window. The Unintended.

By the looks of it, it looked like a bar. A seedy bar at that. Still…he felt a strange pull toward it and decided that while he might be risking never seeing his car again, given the area, that maybe that's what he needed. A drink. He parked his car and headed for the entrance. The small sign stating the hours claimed it closed in a half hour. That was fine. One drink was all he could afford if he wanted to get a decent nights rest.

As he walked in slowly he made note of everyone there. There weren't too many people, and the place was dead silent save the noises of some guy stocking something and of another replacing glasses. The man replacing glasses looked up to him and asked him his drink of choice.

Settling himself down across from the stocker he asked for a scotch. It was a drink he had become familiar with, and one he preferred over all others. His drink was poured and slid over to him and he nodded his thanks at the bartender who he quickly decided he liked. There was something about him that was direct and honest, and Kaiba liked that in a person.

As he sipped his drink in peace he realized as he stared at the stocker without much thought that he knew that figure. He knew that wild blond hair and the words left his mouth before he had a chance to register why he even bothered to say anything at all.

"Of all the days in the world, is that you mutt?"

The guy froze at the sound of his voice and he turned and Kaiba was met with a pair of amber eyes he hadn't seen in awhile. The reaction was quick and familiar.

"Of all the people The Unintended has the ability to drag in, I didn't think I'd see your face Kaiba."

They eyed each other silently and just as Kaiba could feel the questions forming in his own head about the blond, he could see Jounouchi was doing the very same thing about him. But he kept his mouth shut and the blunt of his jokes in high school did the same. He went back to sipping his drink and eventually Jounouchi went back to what he had been doing before.

This was turning out to be an odd day for him. He hadn't imagined he'd ever cross paths with the boy after graduation. Then again, he and Mokuba had only just been talking about getting a mutt for a pet. Perhaps this wasn't a coincidence.

His eyes found their way back to the backside of the other guy and the questions began forming once more in his head. About what Jounouchi had been doing these last couple years, how he'd gotten a job here of all places. What his life was like now…

And as he thought about it he realized his curiosity, which he thought he had smashed, was increasing the more he eyed the boy.

High school hadn't been enjoyable for him, as he found it to be a waste of his precious time. But what made it entertaining for him was riling up the mutt. It had been so easy. Call him a name, remind him of his status as a citizen, it was all easy. And he'd fun watching him go red with anger or embarrassment. Few people were so expressive, and he came to a revelation as he had his last drops of scotch.

That perhaps the reason he was so bored with his life was because he didn't have his usual entertainment that came in the form of Jounouchi Katsuya. At the same time…his eyes wandered over to the man who had served him a drink. He didn't think that man would allow him to take a few notches off his stock boys post. And really, name calling was past him. Yes he had just called the boy a mutt in way of greeting but that had been a simple slip of the tongue. Old habits and such.

As he heard the other patrons beginning to stand he did the same realizing it must be closing time. He paid the bartender and as he was nearing the door he cast his eyes once more around the bar. It was quiet, no one made note of who he was, he liked the bartender, and the best friend of his old rival worked here. Surely such a place was brimming with things to happen. And being the bored and listless CEO that he was becoming he made a decision and decided the people at The Unintended would be seeing him a lot more often.

AN: :P I know. I left it off at the same place I did last chapter. The other chapters shouldn't be like that, but I wanted a little back story on both Kaiba and Jounouchi before I attempted to make some sort of story out of this. Thanks for the reviews guys, keep 'em coming!