But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. ~Excerpt from "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe

For once, his mind gave him a pleasant dream. Maybe it was the fatigue that shut off the Nightmare-giving section of his brain. Maybe his brain thought he could use a nice break. So, Seto Kaiba had a pleasant dream.

The dream, it felt so real to him. He imagined he could feel everything, smell everything, and even taste everything if he wanted to. Simply dreaming the dream meant happiness. There was no other dream he would have preferred.

So, you may be asking, "what is this dream that is so awesome for him?" What do you think? There's only one answer for that.

Mokuba.

"Okay," you might be saying. "That's great. I know he misses Mokuba and all. What's the dream about?"

His dream was about spending the day with Mokuba. No interruptions. No Yugi and his friends. No business to take care of. Just a day with Mokuba in a theme park. No, not Kaibaland. If he was in Kaibaland, it would be work. He was in a random theme park, one that his brain thought up for the sake of the dream. The lines weren't very long, and the rides were thrilling. But what thrilled Kaiba the most was the joyful expression on his little brother's face. Nothing pleased him more than Mokuba's happiness. The dream was filled with the sound of his laughter, the sight of his smile, the feel of his skin, the smell of his hair, and the taste of funnel cakes.

And so, when Kaiba woke up, he was feeling even more miserable than before.

Kaiba didn't realize how hungry he was until he smelled the food upon waking. His stomach rumbled when he realized there were Belgian waffles, a mug of steaming coffee, and succulent strawberries waiting for him on a tray on one of those TV dinner tables. This small table was metal, of course, like everything else. He was starving, weak with hunger. When was the last time he had eaten? It seemed like ages ago.

Even so, he didn't immediately wolf down the waffles. He pushed himself into a sitting position, his bed being a makeshift chair. There was a delicious coating of powdered sugar on the waffles. Kaiba smirked. Magneto was treating him. He was willing to bet the meals after this wouldn't be as… well, good. He picked up a strawberry and crushed it between his teeth, letting the fruit's juices explode in his mouth. The rest of the strawberries met a similar fate. And, after a few sips of hot coffee (black, no sugar or cream), he picked up the plastic knife and fork resting on the tray and ate the waffles. He usually didn't indulge in such breakfasts, but he was famished.

After his breakfast, he went into the little bathroom and took a shower. He was oh-so-glad to feel the dirt and grim from the past day or so slide off his skin and wash down the drain. And when he came out, the tray and folding table were gone. Instead, a nice little note was on the bed. It was obviously written by Magneto, telling him to get dressed and be ready to start training again.

And so, finding himself back in his costume, he waited for Magneto to come and fetch him.

Kaiba pondered his predicament. How long was this going to go on for? And what did Magneto have in store for him? He didn't know, and he didn't like not knowing. But he could sense that the older mutant had an ulterior motive. What it was, he hadn't the slightest idea. He could only wait and observe for now, and draw conclusions later.

He decided Magneto must be watching him, though, for soon enough the old mutant came for him. How else would Magneto always time his entrances so perfectly? The door swung open without being physically touched, and the old man was waiting for him, all garbed in red. Magneto smiled warmly.

"Have a good night's rest, I hope?" he asked. Kaiba shrugged. "Well, it certainly seemed to be good. You look well-rested." Kaiba just shrugged again, not saying anything. "Yes, well, come, come. I've got a new plan for training you."

Magneto led the teen mutant back to the room from before. However, the large empty room now had an occupant. A tall, bulky man with long dirty blond hair and an almost feline look about him waited there. He wasn't quite as tall as Kaiba, being dwarfed by just a few inches, but his mass made up the difference. He made the teen feel like a toothpick.

"Kaiba, this is Sabretooth," Magneto introduced. "You'll be fighting him today."

Kaiba stared incredulously at the older mutant. "You're joking." Magneto shook his helmeted head and smiled knowingly.

"Dearest Kaiba," he said somewhat mockingly, "don't you trust me?"

There it was. The question. Said in a sarcastic tone, but nonetheless a serious one. Kaiba tensed, looking into the old man's narrow eyes. Did he trust Magneto? He didn't know himself. He didn't know anything about this red-garbed man – not his motives, not anything. But who else was there, in this strange mutant underground world, to teach him to control his powers, so that he wouldn't hurt anyone on accident? Kaiba felt stretched in opposite directions. If Gozaburo had taught him anything, it was that if you don't know anything about a person, suspect them at all times – you don't know how they think; they could be planning against you at any minute.

But what had Magneto done so far but be helpful? So far, according to Kaiba's calculating and dissecting observations, Magneto has made no action that would make him suspect the older mutant. Magneto has given him no reason to be apprehensive and cautious. So he turned to his new mentor and said:

"It seems that I have no choice but to say yes."

Mokuba wrung his hands nervously together, resisting the urge to pull at his hair as he stepped out of the car to face his new school for the first time. He was wearing one of those shirts that looks like a white long-sleeved shirt under a red tee-shirt, but was actually one shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and a long fashionable pale blue scarf. It felt strange, going to school in casual clothes. He felt like he had donned the wrong thing, like he had donned the wrong skin.

Jean put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mokuba," she encouraged. "You'll be fine. Besides, we'll be here if you need us. C'mon, I'll show you do the main office to get your schedule." She steered him inside as he nervously shifted his backpack on his shoulders. He was led to an office at which two secretaries sat behind two separate desks. Jean guided him to the secretary who had thick grayish-blonde hair swept away from her peachy face and dark eyes a little too close together, but that looked okay on her face. Her nameplate read H. Cooke.

"May I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yes," Jean answered. "This is Mokuba Kaiba. The new student?"

The secretary – Mrs. Cooke – peered at Mokuba curiously. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "He's quite young," she noted. He wanted to shout at her. Duh! Didn't they tell you anything?

Jean smiled civilly, but Mokuba could tell she was a little annoyed by the secretary's obviousness. The muscles around her eyes were tensed. "Yes, Professor Xavier told you about him. He's from Japan, Mrs. Cooke."

"Oh yes," said the secretary, nodding her head. "I remember now. The Japanese twelve year old. I heard the Asians are more advanced in math and other subjects." She looked at Mokuba, as if for confirmation.

"Yes," he answered. "I… I guess that's right. I have heard we score higher on national tests."

Mrs. Cooke nodded again, clicked the mouse of her computer a couple times, and turned her gaze to Mokuba again. "I have you in Geometry Honors, English 1 regular, Chemistry regular, Western Civilization, and the freshman P.E. I've been told you do not need extra English lessons?"

"That is correct," Mokuba verified. "Ma'am," he added.

"Okay. You have two slots left in your schedule. Do you have any interest in a music class or foreign language?" He shook his head. He'd never learned to play any instrument. He knew his big brother could play the piano, but that's all he knew of. And he was fine with foreign language. Seto had taught him a little of French and German, and he had no desire to learn Spanish. "All right. You're not allowed to have more than one study hall, so here, look through the directory and choose a class or two you want to take."

Mokuba took a flimsy booklet from her and started leafing through it to look at electives. Jean peered over his shoulder. She stopped him and pointed to something on the page. "Look," she said. "Kitty's in that class. Why don't you take that?" It was a jewelry/metal-crafting class. Mokuba grinned. What with his new-found mutant powers, it seemed like a good match for him.

"Okay," he said. He flipped through the booklet a little more to find the computer classes. "I'll take a computer class too. Um… how about Computer Programming?" Jean smiled warmly.

"That sounds good." They went to Mrs. Cooke and told her what he wanted to take. Mrs. Cooke clicked her computer mouse a couple times, pushed her rolling chair to the printer behind her, lifted up a sheet of paper, and rolled back. She handed the still-warm sheet to Mokuba.

"Okay, Mokuba, there's your schedule. Jean can help you find your first class. Jean, I'll write you a late slip."

"Thanks, Mrs. Cooke."

"No problem, hun."

A few minutes later, Jean and Mokuba walked out of the class room and headed down a deserted hallway that just ten, twenty minutes ago was chock full of children. They strolled in silence before Jean said, "Well, I know it's soon, but how do you like it so far?"

Mokuba shrugged. "It is soon, but it all seems so casual. I half-expect everyone to call the teachers by their first names."

Jean laughed. "You might come across a teacher or two who actually does that. But believe it or not, we Americans do have some morals and manners!"

Mokuba couldn't help but chuckle, and Jean joined in. "You know," she added, "your happiness is very infectious."

"Heh." He shrugged. What do you reply to a statement like that? "Thanks, I guess."

"That's a good thing," she told him. "It means that people like being around you." He got the feeling that she was being very careful not to mention his brother.

"Yeah, I guess that means I'm good for my big brother." Better break the ice now. Jean smiled a little warily this time.

"Well, here's your classroom. Geometry. Good luck!" With that, the red-head gave a little wave and headed off down the hallway to her own class. Mokuba took a deep, calming breath and stepped through the door.

Yugi entered the hospital cautiously, suddenly unsure of himself. Jounouchi had told him a while ago that his cousin had been hospitalized, but only now he was actually joining his friend in the room. He walked nervously up to the nurses at the front desk.

"Um, excuse me," he said shyly. "My friend's cousin is in this hospital. She's Chiyoko."

The nurse smiled at him warmly and looked at a sheet of paper. "Well, it looks like she's in room 308. It's not hard to find, it's right next to the elevators on the third floor."

"Arigato," Yugi said, bowing before heading for the elevator doors.

"He's so cute," the nurse whispered to her co-worker.

"I know!" replied the co-worker. "I think they call him the King of Games."

Yugi quickly rode the escalator and found Chiyoko's room. He could see Jounouchi sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair through the large hospital windows. He pushed open the doors, and Jou looked up. Jou's face was somber and serious. It was odd, not seeing either a spark of determination in his eyes or a grin on his welcoming face.

"Hey, Yugi," the blond greeted. Yugi found another chair and pulled it up next to his friend.

"Hey. You doing okay?" Jou nodded. "So this is Chiyoko, huh? I've never seen her, and you never talked about her much."

"Yeah," Jou said in a small voice, looking down at his hands in his lap. "She doesn't like being in Japan much. And she's a little… odd. But she's still my cousin. And the doctor says that if she doesn't come out of her coma by the end of the week, she might never wake up."

"Yeah, family is family," Yugi replied. He gazed at the motionless form on the bed. Chiyoko really was pretty, in a punk/goth sort of way, with her purposely-messy, dyed white-blonde hair, heavily outlined eyes, and pale face. Yugi secretly wondered if she was a mutant too, like those two people Jean and Scott who had asked him about Kaiba. By the way… "Jou, random question. You haven't seen Kaiba recently, have you?"

Jou stiffened. "Y-yeah, actually. If by recently you mean after he ran out of the classroom. He… he was talking with some old dude in a trench coat."

Yugi frowned. "A stranger? Where was this? Maybe it was a business associate."

The blond shook his head quickly. "Oh, it definitely wasn't. For one, they were meeting on the sidewalk, near that weird trinket store called Wiccan Wares. For two… you have no idea how weird he was. I mean, he could move metal without touching it."

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean… he was like, telekinetic?"

"Yeah, but more like, could only move metal stuff. He called himself Magneto."

"That means… he was a mutant?"

Jou looked at Yugi, his eyes wide. "Huh? You know about the mutant stuff?"

Yugi raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You too, huh? I… I think I know what's going on." It was all starting to come together. He got this feeling whenever he was close to solving a puzzle. It was the sensation that everything was falling into place smoothly, like a jigsaw puzzle being put neatly together. "I think… that Kaiba is a mutant, as is that stranger. I think that man has bad intentions. There were other people looking for Kaiba, you know."

Jou pondered that. "I know. A red-head and a brunet."

"Yeah. I think they're the good guys, and they missed Kaiba."

The blond pressed his hands to his head. "What are we going to do? As much as I hate the guy, I can't stand anyone being hurt." He looked mournfully at Chiyoko as he said that.

"I'd say we contact the good guys," Yugi said. "But I have no idea how to do that."

"Maybe Chiyoko would know," Jou suggested, his voice flat and heavy. "Yugi, she's a mutant too."

"Ah…" Yugi sighed. "I guess we have to wait for her to wake up, then."

"Ah, you must be Mokuba, come in, come in," said the math teacher warmly. He was a man of about fifty, with a short beard around his mouth and graying dark hair. His eyes were kind behind his glasses, and a ready smile played on his lips. He was dressed somewhat professionally, with nice pants and a collared shirt complete with a goofy tie. Today, his tie had a giant snowman waving with a mitten on a stick arm. "I'm Mr. Doebert. Why don't you introduce yourself before sitting down?"

Crap, public speaking, thought Mokuba. He scanned the students quickly, looking for a familiar face and finding none. Not even that guy Spyke. "Um… my name is Mokuba Kaiba. I originally came from Domino, Japan, near Tokyo, but I moved into the Xavier Institute."

"Hey, you're Seto Kaiba's little brother!" a student at the back called. "That young CEO!"

Some girls giggled. One of them said, "Oh my gosh, that totally hot one?"

Mokuba felt his face heat up. He stands there in front of the classroom, and all they think about is his brother? He loved his brother, but he was now being blatantly ignored.

"He's so young," said another girl. "Are you sure he's supposed to be in our class?"

The teacher suddenly stood up, slamming his hands on his desk. "Hey!" he nearly shouted. His class jumped in unison and stared at him incredulously. He never shouted at them. Never. Mokuba could sense their shock. It was written all over their faces. "Your fellow student is speaking up at the front of the classroom, and you are showing him the utmost disrespect." He paused, and the class was deadly silent. "Please continue, Mokuba," he said, sitting back down and leaning back into his chair.

"As you noticed," Mokuba began warily, "I'm a lot younger than all you guys. But don't worry, I'm smart too. Maybe not as smart as my brother, but I'm getting there." He added a grin, trying to fight down sudden hostile urges. He felt like punching the nearest guy in the face. He's never felt that before… Mr. Doebert pointed him to a seat in the back, and he quickly strode to it and sat down.

The girl in the seat next to him looked at him and smiled. She had a friendly, round face with dark eyes and light brown hair. She wore thin-framed glasses, and her smile was genuine. "Hi," she greeted. "I'm Zoë. Zoë West. Nice to meet you." Mokuba couldn't help but smile back. His heart immediately lightened a little.

"Nice to meet you too."

"So you're from Japan? That's cool. I've always wanted to go to Japan, you know. I even took Japanese lessons."

Mokuba grinned at her. "You know, if you ever need help with your Japanese…"

Zoë giggled. "Thanks for the offer, even though I'll probably never take you up on it. Now pay attention to Mr. Doebert. He's the best teacher you'll ever meet."

Time passes in a blur…

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. It was now time for lunch, and all of the kids were streaming for the cafeteria. Mokuba felt that he could find the cafeteria – besides the gymnasium, it was the biggest room in the entire school, put smack-dab in the center of it for easy access. Usually on nice days, a lot of students sat outside and ate, but with the cool weather, nearly everyone was inside. Scott and Kurt waved at him from a table and he joined him. He massaged his temples a bit. He had a headache that had been steadily growing from first period.

"You okay?" Scott inquired.

"Yeah, just a headache," Mokuba reported. "It's probably just the stress from today."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kurt told him, grinning. "We all had to suffer the First Day at some point. Well, not Scott and Jean, but you know who I mean."

Mokuba let out a short laugh. "Yeah." Suddenly, he felt dizzy, and he pressed a hand to his temples, unable to hide a wince.

"Mokuba?" the voices sounded very distant, like they were at the end of a long train tunnel. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," he said, standing up. Bad idea. He wobbled, his legs unable to hold him well enough.

"Mokuba!"

He lost track of everything around him. It became a dull buzzing. He couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling. He wasn't confused… well, not just confused. A strange mixture of happiness, confusion, worry, resentment, sadness… and as the world faded away, he saw something that wasn't there.

His big brother. Seto Kaiba. A vision. He was not actually there. Mokuba could tell. But it still brought a sob before he passed out.

Sorry it's so late. I worked quite hard on this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it. Hope you remembered who Chiyoko was too.

By the way, Mr. Doebert is based (heavily) on a real life teacher of mine. He was my eighth grade science teacher... He was awesome... sadly, he passed away. But let's not get into my personal stories, huh? :)

Please don't forget to review!