The days leading up to Wednesday were uneventful. Gozaburo did not seem suspicious in the least. Frankly, the man seemed to pay Noa no attention at all and the Kaiba brothers just enough to taunt them for not doing their homework fast enough. Mokuba was happy that Seto didn't seem to be beaten anymore; maybe Gozaburo had decided to be, at the very least, a decent figure of authority.
Seto was relieved that the beatings were no longer taking place, but he was also worried by the change in routine. Usually, Mokuba would do work slower than expected or cause an accident around the manor resulting in Seto's punishment. He would take any and all of the punishment Mokuba 'deserved' soundlessly or Gozaburo would make Mokuba the target and punish him twice what the monster deemed proper.
Mokuba hadn't changed. He still did his work slower because the work handed to him was on a college level. Occassionally, he would be too noisy when doing something or accidentally drop a glass in nervousness. These things still went on. Maybe the bastard is onto us was the single thought that plagued Seto almost every day. He tried to check and see if anything was changing in Gozaburo's daily routine but to no avail. Nothing else observable was happening any differently. Seto was pissed to say the least. Unfortunately, he did not have enough evidence to consult Mokuba or Noa, so he kept his musings to himself.
"Today's the big day." Mokuba smiled at Seto. Seto only nodded his head. Though no one else would notice, the taller boy was a bundle of nerves, not to mention pissed about Noa's request. How could three boys younger than 18 bring a woman who had been in a coma for nearly 5 years out of it? He was a genius and, he admitted begrudgingly, Noa was close to it, but they were no miracle workers.
The boys met up after dinner as planned and walked out of the front door. Clarissa waved to them from an unexposed balcony. She had arranged everything. Gozaburo had been feeling under the weather so she had his food brought up to his room, pretending to fuss over him so he would stay in the room. Due to the master of the house's illness, she had dismissed every extra servant, leaving only herself, the butler, and a bodyguard. The butler was older than herself, slightly decrepit and a bit senile.
Her one real worry had been the bodyguard. He was nameless, young, had short, brown cropped hair, and lurked around Gozaburo's room constantly, as if expecting someone to make an attempt on his life. He has given enough people reason to want his death, Clarissa thought sadly. How could one man be so evil?
All of the kids met up together at a Burger World which was within walking distance of the Kaiba residence and Mutou game shop. "Alright Noa, share your ideas." Yugi was the first to speak.
He cleared his throat, meeting no one's eyes as he spoke, "My suggestions revolve around finding Seto and Mokuba a safer place to live." He took a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket. "There are two main orphanages in Domino City. One is automatically ruled out because my father paid them off. We could call the other and give them a reason to deem my father an unfit guardian for them."
Seto was silent. Sure, go back to an orphanage; like that's high on his priority list. He decided to correct Noa later on if he got anymore ridiculous.
"That's all I've got right now. Anybody else?" Honestly, Noa had other ideas, but the steeliness of Seto's gaze made him nervous. Let that awful glare be directed at someone else for a few minutes.
Anzu looked, stupidly in Noa's opinion, at Honda. The spiky haired boy was checking out a waitress, ugh typical Noa thought irritably deciding to call them out on their blatant inattention even though they were helping the Kaibas. Honda saw her staring at him out of the corner of his eye. My attempts to get her attention by making her jealous are working. Kick ass Honda, kick ass.
"Can we all focus here?" Noa said loudly trying not to seem too irate. There was no time for such idiocy; a life or death decision could be made today.
Anzu all but winced at the younger boy's tone. Like, why does he have to be so serious all the time? She shook the shock off and just looked towards the conversation, careful not to make eye contact with Noa.
Honda completely ignored the confrontation. His plan was working that was his main concern.
Rebecca, not oblivious to the thick atmosphere, spoke softly, yet clearly, "Maybe Seto and Mokuba could set something up where it looks like they beat Noa up and left. They could take some money from his vault or something and stay at one of the cheaper apartments until it was safe to get more money." Rebecca had not sounded at all confident in her plan when she first began talking, but Seto's silence and Noa's encouraging and impressed look inspired her to continue. Not half bad, Becca. She thought proudly to herself.
Seto remained silent, but did not look overly dissatisfied with her proposition. Noa nodded, "Nice one Rebecca."
No one else volunteered an idea, so Yugi decided to speak, "Where will Noa go if either idea is carried out? Kaiba said earlier that his father was, um, not very fond of Noa." He wasn't unsure of himself just the words he had said could be misconstrued badly.
Noa swallowed and opened his mouth when Seto launched his answer forward. "He will remain in Gozaburo's care unless harm is being done to him. We need inside information in case he starts plotting something."
He left no room for questions. Noa didn't like this idea, but refused to disagree with Seto now, besides the time for them to get back was drawing close. Anzu and Honda stood up to leave together. She hung on his arm like an accessory as the two "annoyances" left the game shop in a rush. Score, Honda thought to himself. Jounouchi, who had not said a word the entire time, rose to stand with Yugi after the two said their goodbyes.
Rebecca waved at Jounouchi then hugged Yugi. Instead of walking out with the boys, though, she turned to the Kaibas. "Seto, Noa, Mokuba, regardless of what any of the others think or say about you, I want you to know that I think all three of you are good people. Not given the best circumstances, but you are perfectly capable of dealing with whatever comes your way. Good luck guys!" Mokuba smiled widely and told her bye. Noa assumed she would just walk away, but she turned to him and enveloped him in a huge hug. "Bye, Noa." She whispered the next part, "I worry about you, you know. But I know you're capable." Before he could stop himself, Noa had kissed Rebecca on the cheek.
She gave him a shocked look, touched her face self consciously, and walked off down the street towards her house. Noa smiled to himself, blushing when Seto made an aggravated noise, practically dragging Mokuba down the street. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Noa mumbled.
The boys traipsed back into the manor right on time, making as little noise as possible. They slunk up to their rooms, waiting on the signal for dinner.
Clarissa knocked on their doors, giving them all her knowing smile as she instructed them to come down for dinner. "Any problems Clarissa?" Noa was leaned close to her so he could not be overheard.
"He doesn't suspect a thing." Clarissa winked, leaving to continue her other maid-like duties.
A/N: I realize I kind of portray Anzu and Honda as bumbling idiots. I really love them, but for this story since they're not the main focus and let's face it it's kind of dramatic/depressing/serious most of the time. Those "idiots" are the comic relief so enjoy it when it comes.