Chapter 2

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"Stop." Kaiba commanded. His voice was calm and cool, but his pulse was racing. "Think about it. Is this really what you want?" He asked the caller as he rose and signaled his supervisor. The woman came by as he continued. "But it's not over. You still have your daughter. She needs you." He took the phone and laid the speaker against this shirt, muffling it. "Suicide" He said to the supervisor and she rushed off to the office to call it in.

There had been many calls requiring action from the phones over the last two weeks. The outcomes were varied, but generally speaking, the response times were slow at best. There was a limited amount of what could be done for people in serious need for help. Being an anonymous hotline, it made it difficult to act accordingly. They could give the police a call and a description of the caller as best they could, but overall, the police couldn't find a nameless, faceless, address-less victim. He knew hiss best bet was to talk him out of his attempt before it was too late.

"Sir, she does need you. Every child needs their parents. Both of them. Even if they're divorced."

"You got kids? Do you know? You sound like you could be my kid. You have no clue." The man's angry voice called.

"No, but I did lose my parents." Kaiba waited as silence filled the other end of the line. He wanted his words to sink in. "I needed my father. I needed both of my parents and they weren't there. Even now I'd give everything to see them again. Think about what you're doing. She may have taken your possessions, but you still have your little girl. When she grows up, you'll be her best friend. Her safety net. The person she trusts and loves wholly and unconditionally. Is that worth your life?" The man was still quiet, and Kaiba couldn't stop tapping his pen against the desk in front of him. He was used to high stress situations, but there was nothing like a life or death situation. He had been in a few, but every time, it was just like the first.

"No..." the man finally said.

"Let me get you some help. What's your name? I can find someone who can help you face to face. Someone who will understand you." He said slowly as he looked up at his supervisor.

"Y-yes... help... Shinji. Shinji Kayatsu." Kaiba opened his booklet of licensed therapists and read off a few names, allowing the man to pick out which he was more comfortable with. He talked Shinji into giving him his number and once the call was over, his supervisor called the chosen therapist for a recommendation. He left shortly to grab a glass of water and returned to his phone ringing again.

"Free counseling hotline. We are student managed and run, is this alright?" He recited in monotone. He was sick of the line already and it had only been two weeks.

"Yup." A cheerful voice said into the phone.

"Are you in danger?" he asked again.

"Nope." The caller answered and he paused. Usually they had something to say at this point, but this one remained quiet.

"Is there anything you would like to talk about today?" he prompted, tired of waiting.

"I think I found your heaven." the caller responded and he furrowed his brow. "Is it the park on 28th? In the business district? It's a big park, with a pond and you can barely hear the city, even though it's right there." She said, and he smirked.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't call again. Yes, that's the one. How are you?" He asked. For some reason, he couldn't stop his lips from curling up at the ends. He chalked it up to his performance with the previous caller and focused on her.

"I'm... well. I wanted to see your heaven really bad, so I went out two Saturdays ago. I... I ran away from home." Kaiba stilled, but allowed her to continue, the smile finally gone. "I guess I just couldn't deal... but I went back on Sunday. I slept by the pond. It was... nice. My parents grounded me for a week, so I haven't been able to call or anything, but now I can. How are you?" She sounded so cheery. It was odd hearing her speak so casually about something like running away.

"I'm... I'm having a good day, but tell me, do you run away a lot?" He said, now used to flipping a conversation back on the caller.

"No. I think about it a lot, but I don't really have anything. I don't have a job, or money, pretty much everything I have is at the house."

"Good. It's dangerous out on your own like that. Especially in the business district at night. There are some real creeps out there." he warned.

"I don't mind creeps. I just didn't want to be home." She said absentmindedly.

"Why?"

"Well... oh! Did you know you can see almost all of Kaiba Corp from the park? At night, it's all lit up, like a giant light in the middle of town. I don't think it shut down until midnight... or... sometime around there. I wasn't sure. I don't have a watch."

"Yes, I know. There are a lot of tall buildings around the business district. What made you feel like you had to run away?" He could hear her getting more uncomfortable, but he grew to expect people to just open up to him. So many times, he would hear every dark secret and stomach turning thought within twenty minutes of receiving the call. She was just so... closed.

"The same thing that makes me want to run away all the time. Just... stuff. I've been having trouble at school lately." Kaiba heard the words, but something was different. He knew she wasn't lying, but he didn't think this problem was the trigger problem.

"What's been bothering you at school?" he asked, giving up and planning to return to the subject later.

"Well, my grades are slipping. My mom and dad are angry. My GPA fell to a 3.9 and now they're trying to get me a tutor. Dad said he'd even try to get Seto Kaiba to tutor me. Can you believe that? As if Seto Kaiba would waste time on someone like me. He's probably got a million and one things to do. Besides, my father would never hire a male tutor. He doesn't even like me to have friends who are boys." Kaiba smirked at her reference to him.

"Does he know you talk to me?"

"No. He... he wouldn't understand. You... You wont tell him, will you?"

"No. How could I? I don't even know your name."

"Oh... right..." She laughed nervously on the other line and he felt warmed. Something about her was endearing.

"Is anything else bothering you?"

"yeah... but I'm still not ready to say it." He sighed. She was something different.

Over the next two weeks he had grown to expect her calls. Every day around two thirty she would call, talk about nothing and everything, and he would ask the same question.

"Are you ready yet?" and she would reply the same.

"Nope, but soon." The routine was nice for him in an otherwise hectic environment.

"Uh... Seto... That's not your bed." Mokuba's voice jarred him awake. He lifted his head, and the piece of paper he was resting on went with him. "Ew..." Mokuba said, nearing his brother and removing it.

"What time is it Mokuba?" Kaiba asked sitting upright in his chair and stretching. A sickening series of creaks and cracks littered his back as he twisted. Desks were not the most comfortable resting areas.

"It's like... five." The boy said glancing over at his clock. "Uh, I need to talk to you." He said warily. Kaiba sobered up immediately. All instances of sleep and tiredness vanished as his brother spoke the words. It was never good. He stood, towering over Mokuba and looked down at him, ready to hear him. "well... uh... Chelsea... we...The other day when she was over we... but it was still too soon-" Kaiba did not like the way this conversation was going.

"Spit it out Mokuba."

"... Chelsea took a pregnancy test and it came out positive, but it was still too soon to tell." he said quickly and quietly. It didn't matter. Kaiba heard every word.

"You... What is wrong with you? You are a millionaire and you cant afford fucking condoms? How many times have I told you to be careful? I didn't try to stop you, I fucking gave you your space thinking you were smart enough to avoid this, but you go and... God damn it Mokuba..." Kaiba finished pacing by running his fingers through his hair. "I don't have the time for this. I don't have the time or the patience."

"Hey, it's my problem. Not yours. I was just telling you-" Mokuba started, not defensive of his situation.

"No, It's my problem too. You see, You're seventeen. You will still be seventeen by the time the baby is born. That means I'm not only your guardian, but I have to look over the baby as well. It's my problem too."

"Only for like a month. Then it's mine!" Kaiba leveled him with a glare before walking out of the room. How could Mokuba be so stupid? Maybe... maybe it wasn't Mokuba's fault... not entirely. Maybe he hadn't done everything he could to teach and help Mokuba understand situations like this. Maybe he was to blame... He could already tell today was going to be a bad day.

Finally at his cubicle, Kaiba sat heavily. He glanced around, his mind wandering to Kaiba Corp. He had gone through the employee work stations himself, and opened up the place, making it more roomy and comfortable for the employees that were forced into tiny boxes like this one. He turned on the computer and opened the recording program. As he waited for the computer to turn on, his supervisor walked by, dropping a sheet of paper in front of him before moving on to the next cubicle.

It was his monthly performance review. He scanned the page and read a few key phrases and found that it was overall positive. Things like 'handles situations very well' and 'able to aim the conversation in positive directions' stood out, but there was one negative review that his professors agreed on. 'Amazing logical deductions, but misses emotional motives and undertones'.

He somewhat expected that. He was never good at emotions unless they were blatant. He used to believe that if the emotions weren't blatant, people were just mocking him, or trying to make fun of him. It was a very childish way of thinking, but back then, it was him against the world. When Mokuba grew up and learned to control his emotions better, Kaiba was forced to grow up and learn that just because they're not entirely open, doesn't mean they're conspiring against you.

His phone rang the second it was online. He answered in the typical fashion, but the voice on the other line made him snap up in his seat.

"Yes, I'm fine and no I'm not in danger." The girls voice called out, answering his next question before he could ask it. "I just really need to talk. I... Have you ever had a bad day so horrible that it feels like the entire world is out to get you?" He waited a moment, slightly amused at how he was just thinking about those days, but removed that emotion, as she was clearly panicked.

"Yes. I used to have them a lot."

"Well I just had one... I don't know how long I'll be able to talk though..." He glanced at the clock, even though he knew what time it was. It was just past one, which was weird for her. She usually didn't call until two thirty.

"Are you in school?" He asked, wondering if she was sneaking calls. His high school didn't allow phones unless you were on break or in lunch.

"No. I'm at home. But that's the issue. I just..." He could hear her voice crack on the other end of the line. Something definitely wasn't right. It didn't seem like a normal bad day, though, he could be mistaken. He did hear girls broke down a lot.

"What's wrong?"

"It's the thing again. I... I still don't...I still can't say... but it's the thing again. I don't want to be here." now she was sobbing.

"Calm down. Relax yourself. Are you afraid?" she didn't say anything. He could hear her breathing, but no response was given. "Hello?" he asked, prompting her.

"Oh... My dad... he's home. I have to go. I'm grounded again. I don't know when I can talk to you again. I..." Kaiba heard a noise in the background, then a clear argument.

"Dad... I'm sorry!"

"I told you no phone and no computer. You love breaking the rules don't you? Hang it up, I need to talk to you and your mother." the mans voice sounded. He didn't seem angered. He actually sounded in very good control. Almost tired even. Perhaps she was over reacting. He heard a beep and put down the phone.

Mokuba slouched on the bench in the front hall of the Kaiba mansion, waiting for his doom. Kaiba paced in front of him anxiously, pausing every few moments. He didn't have much time left in the short period between his psych program and work, but he needed to hear the result. After a few more moments, the girl, Chelsea stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall. Both Kaiba's looked up at her. She looked over at the sitting one with a worried expression, then up to the more intimidating of the two and swallowed hard.

"It... It's... Positive."

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