Mokuba counted down the final seconds of school. The minute hand was being extra stubborn today and wouldn't budge nearly as often as he wanted it to. He glanced at the teacher, who was droning on about the political turmoil in the Byzantine Empire, and switched back to the clock above her. Five…four…three…two…one...done!
The bell rang, interrupting the teacher, and kids began pouring out of the room into the hallway. Mokuba followed suit and joined a classmate of his on the way to their neighboring lockers.
"Hey, Kaiba," Toshiro said, "you doing anything later?"
Mokuba shrugged and turned to open his locker. "Not really," he replied.
"Me and Igarashi were gonna grab ice cream. Wanna come?"
Mokuba smiled. The weather that was finally warm enough to enjoy cold treats, and who was he to pass up the opportunity? "Sure," he said.
Toshiro smiled back. "Great! Meet us at the corner by the playground."
Mokuba nodded and watched Toshiro close his locker and walk away before doing the same. He strolled out of school and across the courtyard. He could already spot the pristine white limo waiting for him, and he shook his head. He had begged Seto to get a town car — they were way less conspicuous — but he said no, ranting something about appearances.
As he approached, the awaiting chauffeur began to open the door for him, but Mokuba shook his head.
"That won't be necessary," Mokuba said in his most authoritative voice. "I have an appointment with a couple of associates and will not be requiring your services as of yet."
The driver regarded Mokuba with a curious look. "Sir, your brother would flay me if I even thought about letting you outta my sight."
Mokuba rolled his eyes, but he knew the guy was right. "I'm just going a block over," he said, pointing to the ice cream parlor. "Why don't you wait for me there?"
The chauffeur hesitated but nodded anyway. Mokuba grinned and waved goodbye. He jogged over to the corner Toshiro mentioned and waited.
"Hey, Kaiba!" Toshiro called as he and another boy — Igarashi — rushed to join him.
"Hey, guys."
"'Sup, Kaiba?" Igarashi said with a smirk. He high fived Mokuba.
"Nothin' much." The trio began walking toward the parlor. "Can't wait 'til tomorrow."
Toshiro looked confused. "Why? What's tomorrow?"
"Friday!" Toshiro still didn't get it. "As in, last day of school?"
"Only until Monday," he replied slowly.
Mokuba groaned. "Way to suck the fun out of that." Igarashi laughed hysterically.
The boys continued talking and laughing all the way to the ice cream shop. They were just about to enter when Mokuba saw someone running towards them.
"Hey! Mokuba!" the girl called out.
Mokuba squinted to get a better look at her. "Oh — Serenity!" He grinned and walked forward to meet her half way. "What're you doing around here?"
Serenity caught her breath and smiled back. "I was looking for you, actually."
Mokuba's heart fluttered a little. "Really?"
"Yeah," she said, blushing a bit. "I, um, kind of have a favor to ask you."
Oh. Of course she did. "What kind of favor?" he asked suspiciously.
"Nothing bad!" Serenity replied quickly, waving her hands in front of her. "Just…it's kind of personal." She glanced behind him at his companions.
Mokuba turned to them. "You guys mind?"
"Oh," Igarashi said, "sorry." He and Toshiro gave them a little distance.
"You were saying?" Mokuba said to Serenity.
"Right." She took a breath. "The favor I wanna ask is for my brother," she said slowly. When Mokuba said nothing, she continued. "This morning, he accidentally sent your brother a really embarrassing picture on his phone. He was so desperate and didn't know what to do, so I told him I would help. I was wondering if maybe I could, I don't know, delete the picture before Seto sees it?"
Mokuba saw the dilemma Joey was in. While it would have been hilarious to watch the catastrophe, he would eventually feel bad for not helping. "What if I delete it for him?"
"The thing is, he doesn't want anyone to see it," Serenity said. "I've already seen it. I was there when it happened, but he doesn't want it to spread any further." She shook her head emphatically.
Mokuba sighed internally. It would be tricky, but he just might be able to solve Serenity's crisis. "All right," he said. "I have a plan. Come with me." He turned and walked back towards the ice cream shop. He pointed out the limo to Serenity before turning to face his friends. "Sorry guys, I gotta go."
Igarashi smirked. "Your girlfriend shows up and suddenly you gotta ditch the boys?" He made a whipping noise and motion. Toshiro snickered.
"Shut up, she's not my girlfriend!" Mokuba said, careful not to be too loud. He blushed at his own words when he heard them back.
"Whatever you say," Toshiro said. "Tell us all the sordid details tomorrow, 'kay?"
"Whatever," he muttered. He waved goodbye to his friends and joined Serenity in the limo.
The plan was simple, or so Mokuba thought. Serenity said nothing, but he could tell she was nervous. She got this adorable wrinkle on her forehead just above the bridge of her nose that he had only ever seen when she watched Joey duel.
Nevertheless, they strode into the lobby of Kaiba Corp headquarters like they owned it — then again, he kind of did, didn't he? After passing through security, they rode the elevator to the top floor.
"Remember," Mokuba began, "just say anything to get him away from his desk. Okay?"
"But you know him better than I do," she all but wailed. "Why can't you talk to him?"
"Because only I can open the drawer," Mokuba said as though explaining this to a child.
"Oh, fine," she mumbled. "Joey so owes me for this."
Finally, they reached the top floor. Serenity took a deep breath and nodded to Mokuba to indicate she was ready.
Mokuba opened the doors to Seto's office and casually walked in. "Hey, bro," he said nonchalantly. "Look who I ran into." He plopped down on an armchair.
Seto glanced up at Serenity, who blushed. "Ah," he said, "Wheeler's sister."
"I have a name," she muttered before she could catch herself. When she did, she blushed.
Seto looked up at her. "And your brother's snark, it seems." He steepled his hands over his desk. "Tell me, did he like my little gift?"
Serenity smiled. "Actually, I think he cried a little."
"Serves him right."
"If you say so." Serenity glanced to her right and was struck with an idea. "Wow," she said with a sigh. She walked over to a floor-to-ceiling window and stared out at the city. "I bet you could see Joey's apartment from here!"
"God, I hope not." Seto rolled his eyes but, much to Serenity's irritation, he remained seated.
Something caught Serenity's eye, and she smiled deviously before crying out, "Oh no! There's someone on that roof!" She backed away from the window and covered her face. "I think he's gonna jump!"
Like a charm, Seto was beside her in an instant, looking in the direction she indicated. There indeed was a man suspiciously close to the edge of the adjacent building, but he merely threw what was presumably a cigarette butt over the side and walked away.
"Oh, thank God," Serenity said with a sigh. "False alarm."
"Yeah, he's choosing slow and painful suicide," Seto replied.
"Oh, clever," Serenity said, nodding appreciatively. She glanced behind her at Mokuba, who nodded.
Mokuba had admired Serenity's display, but now it was time to take back the show. He plopped down on the armchair and yawned loudly just as Seto turned around.
"Not that this hasn't been nice," he began sarcastically, "but we really gotta get going if we're gonna catch that movie."
Serenity seemed to understand and walked toward the door.
"Movie?" Seto asked from behind his desk. "Did you finish your homework?" He looked to Serenity. "Both of you?"
"Didn't get any," Serenity replied with a smile.
"Lucky," Mokuba mumbled. "It's just algebra. I'll do it when I get back, promise." Before Seto could protest, the two teens left the office. "Come on, this way," Mokuba said, walking toward a conference room.
Once inside, Mokuba closed the doors and sat at the head of the table. Serenity sat beside him. He reached into his pocket and deposited the cell phone into her waiting hands.
"Thanks!" She pressed a button. "What's the PIN?"
"2393," Mokuba said with a chuckle. Serenity looked the slightest bit perplexed, probably not understanding the joke.
Serenity put in the code and began her search. She wore an unshakable look of concentration that didn't relax until she had completed her goal. "There," she said with a satisfied sigh. She handed the phone back to Mokuba.
"I'll just give it to the secretary and tell her he dropped it," Mokuba said with a shrug. "You know," he said slowly, suddenly finding the hem of his school uniform extraordinarily interesting, "we could really go see a movie. Since we told Seto we would. If you want to, that is," he added quickly.
"Oh," Serenity said. "I'd really like to, but I told Joey I'd get back to him ASAP."
"Right." He was a fool for trying.
Serenity smiled. "Maybe some other time."
The sun was beginning to set, and the auburn light bounced off the windows of the adjacent building directly into Seto's office, setting it gently ablaze. It was his favorite time of day, the calm before the final act. In this case, it marked the last break he got before his last meeting. Then he'd be off to get ready to start over.
When the sun had completely sunk below the horizon, he stepped away from the window where Serenity had thought she'd seen a jumper — the poor girl, being related to Wheeler couldn't be good for her — and headed toward the conference room.
He was the first to arrive, as usual. He sat at the head of the table and watched the door, beginning a mental list of who came and in what order. Soon enough, the head of each department was present, and they got the meeting started. All was well until his phone vibrated violently.
Those closest to him started in shock but tried to hide it behind sips of water and throat clearing. But just when the phone had stopped spazzing, a song started up. Loudly. And soon a singer accompanied the loud music. There were milkshakes. And boys. And yards.
By now, the current speaker had stopped to look at her boss, unsure if she should even try to speak over the noise. Meanwhile, Seto tried frantically to stop the ringing, but only managed to lock himself out. How the hell did that happen? He hadn't changed the PIN in months!
He looked up, glaring through the mortification, and excused himself. He threw the offensive device into a drawer and slammed it shut, which only muffled the awful lady's wails. He groaned and contemplated what to do.
And then it stopped.
He snatched the phone from the drawer and glared at it in disbelief. He looked at the lock screen and caught a brief snippet of a text: "The new code is 7323." It was from a number labeled 'Do Not Answer.' Why did he even still have Wheeler's number? And more importantly, how did he change the passcode?!
Seto used the new code and just narrowed his eyes when it unlocked. He immediately changed the code and default ringtone back, all the while plotting revenge.
"You better sleep with one eye open, Wheeler."
AN: On an alphanumeric keypad, 2393 is the code for "BEWD," and 7323 is for "REBD." Couldn't resist.
Also, really love Gwen Stefani, but she's sort of inappropriate for a conference, no?