"I'm technically not late because it's still Tuesday somewhere!" is the excuse I will tell myself so I can sleep at night. Anyways, here it is - the final chapter. I'll leave the rest of my ANs for the end. Enjoy!
Seto had been to his share of funerals in his life, but never had he been present at one with as few as three attendees.
Mokuba and Noah were good-natured enough to not ask Seto why he'd organised a service for a man who'd tried to kill them; which was fortunate, because it meant that he didn't need to answer the question for himself.
Could he go back to that night, Seto knew that he wouldn't do a thing differently. He would even go as far to say that Abbedon deserved what he got. He'd had no choice but to kill his uncle, but that didn't mean he wasn't still a little shaken up over the events of that night.
His brothers were just fine, he reminded himself over and over. And that was only because of what he'd done. But the fact still remained that a man – a parasite of a human being, but a human being nonetheless – was dead because of his actions. He was flesh and blood, with a heart that had stopped beating only when Seto willed it.
Seto never felt responsible for his stepfather's death – any of them, in fact. The first time, he'd chosen to jump out of that window of his own accord; the second and third, he'd been nothing more than one's and zero's – a computer virus with delusions of grandeur.
But somehow, this felt different. Seto wasn't accustomed to feeling guilt, and yet, he had no other word for this feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake.
It was painful, but easily alleviated with a glance in the rear-view mirror. Seto had been the first to turn and walk away once the funeral service was over, leaving his brothers to catch up, which they did quickly and easily.
Now they were sitting together in the backseat, engaged in some kind of game Seto didn't care enough to note the title of. They'd bounced back easily enough after that…event, content and comforted that they had each other if nothing else. But not everyone, Seto knew, would be so lucky.
The young nurse and police officer – Yuki and Jun, their names were – had lost several days out of their lives, and were still struggling to come to grips with what had happened to them. Yuki herself had suffered some physical injuries, as Seto had noted before; but the last he heard, things weren't all bad for them. He'd received an e-mail from Jun (not that Seto knew how he'd gotten his address) thanking him for saving them from Abbedon's clutches, and assuring Seto that, despite the mental damage done, they would be just fine; and also that he'd spent a lot of time with Yuki in their subsequent hospital visit, and he felt a deep bond with her. Perhaps, Seto thought, something would come of that bond, and perhaps it wouldn't. Either way, they'd both eventually be okay.
It was Lamia he was most unsure of.
Much to Mokuba's disappointment, despite getting on so well with the boy at the hospital, Lamia didn't appear to have much interest in remaining in their lives. She'd apologised profusely to Seto, and explained that losing everything as she had, including such a large portion of her life, had been devastating, and she needed a brand new start, away from all and any reminders of Abbedon.
Mokuba pretended that this didn't bother him, but Seto and Noah both knew better. She was the only other blood family they had, but as Mokuba had finally smiled and said out loud, not their only family. He'd looked at Noah then with a grin, and Seto was reassured that he would get over it fairly quickly.
To assist with her new start, Lamia had found herself with an unknown sponsor who provided her with open plane tickets to go anywhere in the world, and a bank account with enough money to make herself comfortable. While the identity of this person was far from difficult to work out, Seto refused to admit to doing it. He wouldn't even acknowledge the act to himself. It was his way of forgiving Lamia and moving on from the situation altogether; and now it was behind him, there was no looking back. He had more important things to think of.
"Hey, can you turn it up?"
Seto was snapped out of his reverie by Noah's voice, and increased the volume on the radio, letting the sound of the newsman's voice replace the noise his brothers were no longer making, having hushed to hear the bulletin.
Oh, the media storm – which was still kind of happening – had been fun to deal with. Seto kept his explanations mostly truthful but brief; explaining about the bracelet, Abbedon's plan, and the fact that the P4-N1C device was destroyed, and would therefore no longer be a danger to anyone. He'd left out Sector One and the true identity of the villain of this story, leaving that up to the imagination of the public. All in all, KaibaCorp hadn't suffered too badly as a result – in fact, there were talks of movie rights being thrown around, although Seto was adamant that he had no interest in seeing these events put on the big screen, or any screen of any size, thank you very much.
As for Noah, the public seemed to accept his existence easily enough. Rumours swirled as to whether or not he really was living inside of a robotic body or whether he was just an ordinary boy who'd been kept out of the limelight all this time, and Seto let them. As far as he was concerned, it was nobody's business.
The newsman recapped the story, and the boys in the backseat sat there, giggling at all the plot holes in the "we know something you don't" way children tend to do.
Once the bulletin had ended and the ads began to play, Seto switched off the radio.
"Where are we going?" Mokuba asked, suddenly noting at last that they were heading in the opposite direction of KCHQ.
"Well, it's almost lunchtime," Seto answered. "I thought now was as good a time as any to cross something off your list."
He gestured to the picnic basket sitting on the passenger seat, and then turned into a car park.
This was one of his favourite places in the city. It was a beautiful and usually not very crowded park, with a lake running through the middle, and a small but serviceable playground.
One of Seto's few memories from his early years was in this place. His parents used to bring him, and later, Mokuba here to feed the ducks and enjoy a picnic lunch together at least once a week. Now he was the parent (of sorts) and it seemed only right to bring the tradition back to life.
He let the boys set up their picnic blanket and food, while he took yet another phone call from yet another associate, attempting to confirm that he was indeed still very much alive.
"Don't worry bro," Noah said once he hung up, noting the irritated look on Seto's face. "It'll all blow over eventually."
"I know," Seto answered, sitting on the blanket in between the two of them. His phone rang again, and he instinctively went to answer it – but instead changed his mind at the last second and set it aside. His company mattered to him more than his own life, and he knew that part of running it was that family events like this one would, unfortunately, be frequently interrupted. But today of all days, he could make an exception.
Mokuba and Noah talked happily while they ate, with Seto occasionally pitching in; and when they were done, the younger two ran to the lake's edge to feed the ducks, laughing cheerfully at how silly they looked gobbling up the pellets. It was such a little thing, but it brought them so much joy, and their older brother was instantly confidant that he'd made the right decision in setting his work aside to enjoy the afternoon.
Seto watched his brothers play, and from anyone's point of view, they looked just like two normal, happy children. And while they were anything but normal, Seto was pleased to say that they were indeed very happy. He picked up the other bag of duck pellets he'd brought and stood, walking over to join them.
Helen Keller was once quoted saying that, "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it." And how right she was.
And so ends My Brothers' Keeper. I really, really had so much fun writings this, and I hope you did too in reading it. I was way out of my comfort zone for a lot of it, but hopefully it all came together nicely.
I want to send out an extra special thank you to all my lovely reviewers and the people who made writing this so very worthwhile. I hope it lived up to everything you wanted it to be.
I'd love to continue this tale somehow. I have no idea about what a larger plot would be, but I'd love to explore life with all three Kaiba brothers and what it would be like, and also how Noah adjusts to everything. It that does happen, it won't be right away; I'd need some time to think everything out and sort it mentally, so stay tuned because whether or not that does happen is up in the air right now, but even if not, I don't intend to leave these boys - or this fandom - alone for very long. Feel free to check out my other stories in the meantime, and if you ever want somebody to blather to about the beauty that is these precious cinnamon rolls, I'm always available through PM here or on A03, or Tumblr. My username is the same everywhere.
All the best loyal readers, and I'll hopefully see you in another story x