Jounouchi's grumbling stomach interrupted his thoughts, and he put a hand up in a failed attempt to pacify it. He groaned, and the discussion he'd just been participating in dissolved in light of his hunger. "'Ey Moneybags. You gotta have some grub to spare in a ritzy place like this, right?"
Seto had busied himself with filing his box of remaining bullets into his briefcase. He eyed Jounouchi briefly, then nodded in the direction of the kitchenette.
"You're free to raid whatever you find in the refrigerator. Go ahead and bring along as much of its contents that you can carry without slowing anyone down." Jou happily skipped off, drooling with eager anticipation of the gourmet food he expected he might find inside the refrigerator of a billionaire.
The blond's pained groan upon finding the appliance entirely empty was met with a knowing smirk from the billionaire. Seto didn't blink as he slid his reloaded handgun into the holster swinging against his hip.
"While I may assume residence of this suite permanently, as I own the building," Seto explained, "I don't spend nearly enough time in this park to justify stocking the kitchen with food, when it would just end up spoiling, or attracting pests. You can search this suite from carpet to ceiling and you won't find a crumb."
"That's fuckin' cruel!" Jou protested. Seto turned to stare at him.
"You might not know this about me – I understand it to be a little known fact – but I don't actually live to please others," Seto said with his familiar sarcasm. Jounouchi twisted his face in annoyance.
Seto turned away from him and sobered the moment again. "I recognize that, over a long enough period of time, finding food will become a necessity, to the point where existence very well may hinge on doing so. Thankfully," the man said while lifting his briefcase and stepping pointedly toward the exit, "I don't plan to be stuck in here long enough for that to become a problem."
Jounouchi grumbled while the billionaire stalked out the door, "Y'know, Twinkies last forever." Seto hadn't seemed to hear him.
"Hey, Moneybags!" The wounded vixen called from her spot resting on the sofa, adopting Jounouchi's nickname for the CEO. Seto didn't turn around but ceased his stride only a few steps from the doorway. "Not all of us are in such great shape to go out demon hunting, especially now that it's nearly dark. Wouldn't it be a better idea for all of us to regroup here for a few hours and figure out a plan if we're all going to stick together?"
Seto spun on his heel to glare at the woman. His tone was icy and condescending. "You feel free to do that, Kujaku. It isn't my fault you got yourself screwed up, and I'm not going to let myself pay for your carelessness. You're right about one thing, though; it is nearly dark. Soon the temperature outside will drop accordingly. And my little brother is out there," he gestured widely to the window on the far wall of the suite, leading directly outside. "He is unarmed and presumably by himself, with those predators. It's my job to make sure that he's alive and well, above all else. Above my comfort, above my hunger or fatigue, and certainly," Seto narrowed his eyes at the whole of the group before him, "above any of you," he spat coldly. "Fine. Stay here if you need yourselves a break. I don't fucking care. I never agreed to be a part of some happy-go-lucky team with you dweebs. I agreed to let you come with me. I did not agree that I would stay with you."
Seto stood in the threshold of the suite glaring at the four. "By all means, stay. Be my guests. But I cannot justify sitting around here wasting time recouping while my brother needs me. Mokuba knows I always come for him when he's in trouble, and I refuse to let him down." Seto turned dismissively and took a mere two steps out of the room before he was stopped again.
"Kaiba!" Shizuka called. "I-I know you want to go…" she stuttered timidly. She took a breath to steady her voice. "I don't want to stop you. But I would like to suggest that you make a plan before going back out." Seto was a moment in answering.
"…You seem to be suggesting that I don't already have a plan," he accused, insulted.
"I don't mean to say that. I'm just wondering if you... if you know where to start looking for him."
Seto snorted, and there was a heavy coldness to the gesture. "If I knew that, don't you think I'd be there already?"
"I thought you had a plan, Rich Boy!" Jounouchi jeered. Yugi kept himself silent amidst all of the shouting.
Seto glared. "I do, you pathetic dog. That doesn't mean I know exactly where to find Mokuba. If I had that much information, he wouldn't be lost and there wouldn't be a problem," he snapped.
"That's fair," Shizuka agreed in an attempt to silence her own brother. "You told me you two split up. You know what area of the park he was supposed to be in, then, right?"
Seto closed his eyes. While he was relieved, a miniscule degree, that anyone might finally start speaking sense, it still took some amount of concentrated effort to calm himself down in his irritated state. "Yes. I intend to retrace his steps from the last point I knew of his whereabouts."
"Kaiba…?" Yugi questioned thoughtfully, and Seto glanced in his direction with disinterest. "I don't suppose there would be a map of the park available?" Seto gestured with a nod to a corner table tucked away between the wall and the sofa Mai rested on, behind her head.
"The cleaning staff always seem leave that tourist garbage in here. There should be a pamphlet on the layout of the park if you can find it in that pile of junk." Yugi grabbed the pile and leafed through it, Jounouchi looking over his shoulder, until he found what he'd been looking for and laid it out across the kitchenette table for the group to see. Jounouchi and Shizuka looked over Yugi's shoulders and Mai strained to see from her spot on the couch, though she wasn't able to glimpse anything.
"So we're… Wait. Where are we?" Jounouchi puzzled over the map, unable to make sense of it. Seto sighed a demeaning insult at the blond under his breath but leaned over and placed his long finger on the far right side of the page, directly above a yellow star marking "you are here" in small bold lettering.
"That's the hotel. The game testing booth, for a point of reference, was to be posted over here." Seto pointed to a place near the bottom-center of the park, near the entrance. "That's where I understand the entirety of your group was last together. Shizuka. You and I encountered one another right around here," he'd pointed to the left side of the map, far from the testing site, near a large Blue Eyes statue shown on the map. "I was to examine the east half of the park, while Mokuba was supposed to be inspecting the west side, from right around the testing sight near the entrance, up to the Blue Eyes Adventure attraction in the northwest corner, all the way to the west boundaries."
"If you go out, how will we be able to find you again? That's a lot of area to cover."
"That's not my problem. I'm not the one asking for help." Seto straightened himself and gathered his briefcase, preparing to go.
"Please, Kaiba. Just wait a minute." What was left of the man's patience drained out of him then and there.
"I don't have a minute to wait for you geeks!" He snapped at her. "I've wasted enough time helping you already."
Shizuka flinched at the outburst, but turned to shoot a hurried glance at her brother who looked back at her quizzically.
"I want to help you find Mokuba."
"Sis, no. Let him deal with-"
"Onii-chan. If I were the one missing, you would want anyone you could get to help. Wouldn't you?"
Jounouchi sunk back in silence.
"But I'm not him," Seto defended himself from the insult. "I am not asking, nor am I in need."
"You don't have to ask. I'm offering." She responded boldly. She gestured to the map laid out on the table. "This is too much area for you to cover on foot by yourself in a reasonable amount of time. Yugi can stay with Mai while she rests her leg, and my brother and I can help you cover more ground."
Seto was a moment in considering.
"I'm not bailing either of you out of a bind if you fuck up," he finally answered.
"I wouldn't ask you to. You have enough to worry about."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Jounouchi protested.
"Please, Onii-chan. We really ought to help ensure that Mokuba – and Anzu and Honda – are all ok." Jounouchi grumbled something barely coherent, but moved to stand near his sister.
Seto let out a sigh and stood over the table. His broad shoulders hunched over the map on display. He retrieved a pen from a concealed pocket and scribbled a small circle around an area near the entrance marked on the map, which stood in the center of the park on the bottom edge of the map, south.
"This is where Mokuba and I separated. His route was to go from the general admissions entrance, here in the middle of the south wall, to the edge of the park on the west side and wind upward to the north border. Shizuka, you and I cut a line straight through the middle of the park west to east on the way to this hotel from the coaster, and saw no evidence of him either. I'm going to wager a guess that, in light of the events, he would come looking for me. I haven't had a proper opportunity to search my half of the territory, so that will be my starting area. If you two are truly adamant on taking on a bit of the legwork, you can head upward along the monorail and search the northern borders."
"Along the what?" Jounouchi questioned unknowingly.
Seto gritted his teeth. "The train, moron! Just follow the tracks that cut straight in front of the hotel to the other side of the park heading northward, until you reach the far corner. If you two can't find anything, follow the tracks back, retracing your steps. I'll head south away from the monorail, and if I turn up nothing, I'll meet you along the way and lead you back here."
"Okay, Kaiba. We'll do our best," Shizuka smiled.
"Since you two seem to be the ones lacking in brainpower, you'd be better off with the map. I won't need it. Oh, and if you veer off the path I've suggested, I will not come looking for you."
"We won't," Shizuka assured. She packed up the map and prepared herself to leave with Seto. Under the circumstances, there wasn't much to do.
"What a waste of time," Seto grumbled under his breath.
Jounouchi's stomach growled again, with more ferocity than before, and the teen groaned. "Too much walkin' on an empty stomach…" He quietly complained.
Seto, who had heard the noise again, lifted his briefcase and slammed it heavily onto the wooden table. The two girls in the room startled noticeably. Everyone in the room looked on with attention.
"I'm getting very tired of taking care of you dweebs," Seto complained. He snapped the latches and swung the lid open swiftly. He retrieved a blue satin pouch roughly the size of a grapefruit, which he tossed at Shizuka. She held the glossy cloth bag curiously, but made no attempt to loosen the drawstring holding it closed. Seto rolled his eyes.
"Open it," he commanded. Shizuka obeyed, and poured a few small morsels wrapped in silver foil into her hand. "Pass it around. It won't fill you up, but it should give everyone a bit of extra energy to get through the night."
"Is this…" Mai examined one of the pieces, peeling back the fold of the foil. "It is! It's chocolate!"
"Ahah! I knew you were holdin' out on us, Mon- er, ah, Kaiba!" Jounouchi cheered. He barely waited to unwrap the foil before popping each piece into his mouth.
"Thank you, Kaiba," Yugi and Shizuka offered.
"Wouldn't expect a tough guy like you to carry around a bag of candies," Mai snickered.
"Just be sure to save enough for Mokuba. I keep them around for him," he added on a low tone. Shizuka passed the bag back to Seto, still containing a handful of candies in it for Mokuba, along with a sprinkling she'd poured out for his own portion. But Seto instead slipped those back into the pouch with the rest and returned it to his case. "I don't much care for sweets. I'd much rather save them for my brother," he explained. "Fine then. If you two are through with your complaints, I'd like to leave now."
Shizuka nodded and followed him to the door, pulling her brother along behind her. They waved a farewell to Yugi and Mai, who wished them safety in return.
Seto, Shizuka and Jounouchi returned to the outside world. Immediately upon being reintroduced to the evening air, Jounouchi's sense of smell was assaulted and a coughing fit seized him. Shizuka had to cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve pulled over her left hand while she rubbed her brother's back with her right.
"What the hell is that stench?" Jounouchi choked out. He was reminded of rancid meat his drunken father had left out several days too long. He looked up at Kaiba and was astounded at his lack of reaction.
"We're dealing with an epidemic of monsters covered in rotting flesh. Did you expect them to smell like roses?" Seto taunted condescendingly. He stared up at the odd clouds ignoring whatever Jounouchi's reply might have been, if he'd said anything. "The problem seems to be worsening. That's not good news," Seto commented.
Seto, while not entirely unaffected by the stench, was not much worse for the wear compared to his compatriots, and with cupped fingers lightly guarding his offended nose, he moved to lead the three of them to the monorail track that curved toward the front of the hotel. He pointed out the direction in which they were to follow it, and then turned to start his own journey.
"This is where we're going to split up. The two of you will keep following the railway that way. I hope that's simple enough for you; you shouldn't even need the map. You'll be looking for any indication that my brother has been in the area. Even if we don't find him, keep your eyes open for clues. And try not to get yourselves killed." Seto said nothing more, and awaited no answer, before walking off to follow the border along the south.
A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! We're still getting the ball rolling here, so hang in there!
I've been having a grand time in between postings here, as I've finally found an online writing course that suits me, my budget and my schedule, and I've opted to start one of the courses. It's occupied some more of my spare time, but I'm learning a lot while I take it and work through the homework. I don't know how much it will help my current writing, but hopefully a better education will improve upon pieces I start in the future.
I've also started playing the YGO trading card game again (although I kinda suck), but I've been rebuilding my deck with cards NOT only printed in 2006, haha, and I've enjoyed getting to face off online against some of my friends in other states (and actually win a couple games!). So, while an understanding of the game of Duel Monsters may not be totally necessary for writing YGO stories, I find it to be a fun tool (especially for this little piece) to familiarize myself with new monsters and techniques. Or, simply, to keep the YGO juices flowing in my brain.
Sorry I don't have any new monsters to introduce this chapter, but I can promise you that they may or may not be coming in the near future!
See you next time, everyone.
~ohmygodagiantrock
