Doctor's Note: Thank you for your feedback! This was originally just a one-shot, but now I'll endeavor to tell the story of all four days. - Dr. Mini Pie

In spite of the genuine fun Seto had had that day with Mokuba, by that night he was filled with dread. He'd put Mokuba to bed at nine and had spent the next seven hours convincing himself that these four days of freedom were nothing but an elaborate scheme, set up by Gozaburo to trap Seto and punish him for his lazy insurrection. Maybe even set up by Hobson, the mastermind of punishment.

Now it was three in the morning, and Seto was no closer to sleep than he'd been at nine. He kept having visions of Hobson barging into his bedroom and switching on the lights, hearing Gozaburo's barks of laughter from outside the door. He was absolutely sure the jig would be up at any moment.

Seto lay there in his pajamas, gazing despondently at the roof of his four-poster, until the sun came up.

When his door did burst open at seven-thirty, Seto stifled a yelp and jerked upright. With saucer-sized eyes he stared at the little figure who bee-bopped into the room, singing; his mind tried to assure his nerves that this clearly wasn't Hobson.

Mokuba climbed into bed next to his trembling sibling. "You ain't never had, never had, you ain't never had a friend like me," he sang under his breath as he snuggled in and pulled the comforter up to his chin. "Can we go to the pool today?" he asked, peering up at Seto.

Seto wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "Um..." What if Gozaburo showed up while they were gone? "Um...I think we have to stay here today," Seto said.

Instead of pouting, Mokuba took a shrewd route. "Well, I have swim trunks now, and so do you," he said. He sat up and opened his hands in a gesture of closure. "So, I think we can go today."

Seto shook his head. "That's not..." He trailed off. How could he explain this?

"Roland said he can take us in the limo," said Mokuba.

Seto blinked. "You talked to Roland?"

"Yeah. He's downstairs." Just then Mokuba's stomach gave a huge growl. "I'm hungry!" he exclaimed. "Let's go eat break-n-fast." He leaped out of the bed as abruptly as he'd arrived and scampered out the door. "Come on!"

Seto heard him singing on his way down the hall: "Ain't never, ever, had a, frieeend..."

"...It's 'breakfast,' " Seto said. As he got to his feet he felt his heart smile, even if it didn't reach his face.

When Seto came down, Roland was there, sitting beside Mokuba at the breakfast table and chatting with him about something.

"I do like Aladdin," he was saying, not sure of how serious he ought to sound.

"Me, too," said Mokuba. "Do you like Jafar?"

"Er...well, no. He's not a very nice man..."

"I don't, either. Do you like the Sultan?"

"Um—"

"Seto!" Mokuba beamed at his brother, who took the seat opposite the pair. Roland stood and bowed.

"Good morning, young Master Kaiba," he said before sitting down again.

"Morning," Seto said, biting his lip. His question burned in his mind, and he knew Roland was the only one who could maybe give an answer—but he was afraid to ask.

Roland, however, seemed to pick up on his distress. He cleared his throat. "If you were wondering, sir," he said, "we received a brief fax from Master Kaiba this morning."

Seto's face went ashen, and Roland's own face softened at the sight. He went on in a gentler tone of voice.

"He confirmed that he will indeed be away until Tuesday."

...Oh. But...Seto gulped. "And did he, um—"

Roland shrugged with a half-smile. "He left no instructions for you."

Seto felt stupid for worrying before, but he was so utterly relieved now that he didn't care. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding for the past twelve hours.

"What about for me?" Mokuba tugged on Roland's sleeve. Roland shrugged again.

"Not for you, either, young master," he said.

Mokuba looked at Seto, eyebrows raised. "So we can go to the pool today," he said slowly, as though he had just explained the meaning of that statement to a toddler.

Seto glanced at Roland, who inclined his head obligingly.

"...Yep."

They had to wait until the pool opened, of course—and Mokuba got caught up in watching Aladdin for the sixty-third time—so by the time they arrived it was the heat of the day, and Fifth Street Pool was somehow even more crowded than it had been yesterday.

Seto again asked Roland to leave, although his renewed offer to stay was tempting. But now that Seto knew his way around (and knew to keep a hawk's eye on Mokuba, who was already drifting toward the entrance while Seto bought the passes), he was determined to do better on his own.

"Wait, Mokuba!" he shouted. Mokuba reluctantly obeyed. He hovered by the doorway until Seto finished; then they joined hands and squeezed through the bustling poolside to the restrooms.

"Where's Joey?" asked Mokuba, craning his neck as they walked.

"Who?"

"My friend," said Mokuba. Seto made the connection and grimaced a little.

"Oh, him. How'm I supposed to know?"

"Will you help me find him?" Mokuba asked. His brow creased with worry. "We're gonna swim again today."

"Sure," Seto grumbled with zero conviction. They stopped in front of the same stall as yesterday, and Seto led Mokuba inside. "In you go, kid."

They changed together into their trunks, though Seto left his shirt on. He knelt to the floor to tie off Mokuba's pant legs, ruminating. Half of Seto was glad he wouldn't have to swim, but the other half was jealous of his brother's new friend. This kid—Joey—should have to earn Mokuba's trust. One day of swimming didn't cut it, not by a long shot.

But it seemed Mokuba was not nearly so particular.

"Joey!" he cried, leaping into the air with an ecstatic wave. Joey had just emerged from the water and stood ringing out his trunks at the edge of the pool. He looked up when he heard his name and grinned.

"Hey, Mokuba!"

Seto watched with mild horror as his little brother padded on his bare feet over to Joey and hugged him firmly around the waist.

"Good to see ya, kid!" said Joey, ruffling Mokuba's hair.

"Are we gonna swim again today?" Mokuba asked, bubbling over with excitement.

"We're at the pool, ain't we?"

Mokuba laughed. "Yeah!"

Mokuba was keen on leading Joey back into the water, but Joey paused and locked eyes with Seto, who stood with his arms crossed a few feet away.

"Hey," said Joey.

Seto glared. He didn't deign to reply. Joey's eyes narrowed.

"Are you gonna swim, or are you gonna watch again?"

Several emotions passed through Seto's heart at once: indignation, bitter envy, offense, disgust. But anxiety trotted up and threw a blanket over all of them.

He said, "...I'll watch."

Joey shrugged. "Your loss." He turned away to let Mokuba drag him by the hand into the shallow end.

Seto claimed a spot high up on the bleachers. He'd refused to let on how intensely angry it made him, just giving Mokuba away to this punk—but now that he was alone, he could seethe all he wanted. He considered climbing down there, forcing Joey into a stranglehold, and holding his head under the water until bubbles came up. Then he'd think twice before stealing Seto's brother. He'd leave them both alone, forever.

To distract himself, he dug into his beach bag and produced a book. He propped open against his knees and attempted to read. It was just a book to read for fun, not a textbook. But Gozaburo had screwed him up so badly, he couldn't get through five pages without being overwhelmed by guilt. How could he read this junk when he had so much studying to do?

He tossed the book back into the bag and squinted down at the water until he spotted his brother. Joey was still with him. Mokuba was still smiling and laughing.

Seto sighed. He traced the patterns on his new trunks, which still had never been wet, and sulked.

After dinner at the mansion with Roland, Seto washed the chlorine out of Mokuba's hair. Then the boys hunkered down in front of Mokuba's television, and Seto pressed 'Play' on the VCR remote. The beginning strains of "Arabian Nights" filled the warm and comfortable silence.

About twenty minutes in—just as Aladdin was reaching for the lamp—a massive BOOM crashed against the balcony window. The lights flickered and flared up, and then everything went black.

Mokuba didn't scream; he had never been afraid of the dark. He was more upset that his movie had ended.

"What happened to Aladdin?" he demanded.

"The power went out," whispered Seto.

Mokuba mimicked his brother and fell silent. Outside, the rain roared. Thunderclaps rent the air, and peels of lightning threw shadows around the room in constant succession. The brothers sat and listened in the dark for a minute or two, taking in the symphonic light show.

Mokuba eventually spoke. "You can swim with me 'n' Joey tomorrow," he said. "It's really fun."

"The pool's closed tomorrow," Seto said.

"Then the next day," said Mokuba, undeterred. He sounded sleepy. Seto felt Mokuba's head press against him. He wrapped his arm around his little brother's tiny shoulders.

"...maybe," he said.

Mokuba cuddled in closer. "Okay," he mumbled. Seto laid his head softly on top of Mokuba's.

As soon as Roland got the backup generator working, he popped in to Mokuba's room to check on the boys. They'd fallen asleep like that.