Seto woke up feeling more refreshed than he had in a while. Although the previous day's pranks had some unintended side effects (namely, following the mutt and his crazy girlfriend around all day, then having to console said girlfriend when it turned out she wasn't pregnant, or getting married, or moving into that beautiful condo), he had to admit that it had been worth the trouble. So, he rose and met the morning with a light heart, confident that he had put an end to Wheeler's inanity for good. After all, seeing how far Seto was willing to go to win this grudge match couldn't have done any favors for the blond's resolve. Relishing this thought, Seto quickly dressed and made his way to the kitchen to meet Mokuba for breakfast.
The teen was nowhere to be found, and Seto wondered if he had overslept (again). Sighing, he bypassed the tempting pot of coffee and marched up to Mokuba's room. He knocked and was surprised to hear a distant "Come in" from within.
"What're you doing?" Seto asked as he entered the bedroom. Sure enough, Mokuba was still in his pajamas and was kneeling on his window seat, face pressed to the glass as he watched something outside.
"Something's going on out there," Mokuba replied, distracted. "I can't make it out..."
Seto took the bait and joined his brother at the window. Sure enough, down in the yard across the street, a group of people in hard hats were each carrying large black planks around to the back of the house. A few more workers were on ladders around the house itself stringing up lights and other roof trimmings.
"Remodeling?" Seto ventured. He and Mokuba exchanged a glance before shrugging and returning their attention to the scene outside. They watched silently for a few more minutes – in which the young bachelor of an owner ushered a few of the hard hats inside – before Seto remembered what he had come upstairs for. "Come on, you have to finish getting ready for school."
Mokuba reluctantly pulled himself from the window seat and turned to his closet to fish out a clean uniform. Seto had barely poured himself a cup of coffee when Mokuba joined him at the kitchen table (which made him suspect that the teen had skipped out on grooming himself, but Seto only sighed rather than reprimand him for it; it was Mokuba's hygiene, after all). The two serenely enjoyed their meal together, and the day was back on track for normalcy, the odd happenings next door already forgotten.
Seto looked up from his screen, mildly shocked that the sun was nowhere to be found. He glanced at the clock – apparently sunset had been hours ago. Meaning he had been working in the dark (again). At least Mokuba wasn't there to scold him for it, although he'd probably be getting an earful for coming home this late.
He switched on a desk lamp and quickly finished his current task, deciding that the rest could wait until Monday. Soon enough, Pemberton, the Kaibas' evening driver, was weaving through the lamp-lit roads of Domino en route to the mansion. Once they were past the city limits, Seto pulled out his phone to call Mokuba. But after a few rings, the call went to voicemail.
A reflexive sense of dread surged through him, but he swallowed it down and sent a text instead. When minutes went by and the teen hadn't responded, Seto called again, then called the mansion's landline, hoping Mokuba just had his phone on silent, then praying that one of the house staff felt like staying later than usual. As the phone continued to ring, he contemplated the necessity of calling Nishimura, the daytime driver, to help track down Mokuba – but finally someone picked up.
"K-Kaiba residence," came a breathless voice that Seto briefly registered as Helga's. There was a faint pounding sound in the background that almost muffled her voice.
"It's me," Seto replied, trying to figure out what the noise was.
"Oh, hello sir. Is everything all right?"
He quirked an eyebrow. "You tell me. I haven't been able to get in touch with Mokuba." Images of worst-case-scenarios danced through his mind.
"He's fine, sir, he just, um, probably didn't hear his phone." Helga said something he couldn't make out, and then came a different voice.
"Hey, big bro," Mokuba said, and relief flooded through him. "Why aren't you home yet? You know what I've told you about working so late, especially before the weekend."
Seto almost smiled – almost – at the concern in his brother's voice. "Lost track of time. You know how it is." He made a vague gesture. "Anyway, why aren't you in bed?"
Mokuba scoffed. "It's the weekend. Besides, it's not like I could sleep with all of this."
"All of what?"
"Hold on, I'll let you hear it for yourself." There was a sound like shuffling, and suddenly the thumping background noise got a lot clearer as Mokuba presumably held the phone up to the source. Jaunty and rattling music played through the receiver for a few moments until Mokuba said, "See what I mean?"
"What is that?" Seto asked. "And where's it coming from?"
"Next door," Mokuba said. "Apparently, the neighbors are having a party."
Before Seto could ask Mokuba for details (such as which neighbors? just how loud was the music playing that he could hear it through the walls and phone? why tonight of all nights?), Pemberton reached the summit of the hill, and Seto had a clear view of said party. People in bright and glitzy clothes littered the yard adjacent his, talking, dancing, and laughing loudly. The front door of the neighboring mansion was wide open, and the partiers were constantly flowing in and out. Waiters carried platter after silver platter of hors d'oeuvres and champagne around the yard, disappearing into the house once their supplies were exhausted. As Seto watched in abject terror, more cars and limousines arrived, dumping new loads of guests each passing minute.
Pemberton looked at his boss in the rearview mirror, awaiting direction. "Where to, sir? There's a limo blocking the driveway."
Seto groaned. "Here is fine. See if you can park on the street somewhere." Pemberton nodded, and Seto got out of the car.
He practically jogged to his front door, only pausing to shudder before entering the mansion. Mokuba and Helga joined him in the foyer after a few seconds. "How crazy is it out there?" he asked. Seto only shook his head in response. "Well, I guess we know what they were setting up for this morning."
Seto thought back to the hard hats and mentally agreed. Had he known then, he'd have spirited Mokuba away for an impromptu weekend getaway that was decidedly quieter than this. He brought himself out of his reverie and looked over to Helga. "What are you still doing here?" he asked, only faintly aware that it came out colder than he had intended.
"Oh, um, the party started up as I was preparing to leave," she replied. "I felt bad leaving Mokuba here alone with...all of that."
"Plus, she wanted to make sure I didn't go," Mokuba said. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, clearly irritated. "Even though I told her that I'm practically an adult and can handle myself."
Seto gave an appreciative look to Helga that went unnoticed by the teen. "Why weren't we invited, anyway?" he asked rhetorically. The trio walked into the salon to watch the party's progress.
"Heh," Mokuba said, "never thought I'd see the day that Seto Kaiba got jealous about not being able to party with the cool kids." He nudged Seto playfully.
"Hardly," he said. "It just would've been nice to know about it earlier." Although deep, deep, deep down he did wonder if he and Mokuba were the only ones on the street who weren't on the guest list.
Neither Mokuba nor Helga responded, content to watch the happenings outside with Seto quietly. As earlier, the party-goers were prancing or stumbling around the neighboring grounds, mostly in pairs or groups. Hardly one went by without a bubbly drink in hand, and through the unveiled windows of the house in the distance, Seto could make out more guests talking, laughing, and even dancing.
"This is boring," Mokuba said with a pout. "We should be over there."
"Not this again," Helga mumbled, barely audible to either brother.
Seto glanced in the general direction of a grandfather clock. "It's getting late. Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"On a Friday?" Mokuba countered. He grumbled but nevertheless followed up with a "Fine, I get it, I'm leaving. Gonna find a movie to watch or something." He stomped off towards the home theatre.
When Mokuba had disappeared around the corner, Seto turned to Helga. "Thank you, Helga, for watching him. You will be compensated for your extra time."
Helga nodded. "Then I'll take my leave."
He saw her to the door and returned to the salon to watch the party with morbid fascination. No sooner had he returned than a wave of cheering and applause wafted over from the backyard of his neighbor's property. Curiosity getting the better of him again, Seto walked towards the back of his mansion, where he could get a better view of what was going on. From the windows of the back lounge he could see the partiers gathering around a man hunched over a bunch of equipment elevated on a portable stage. Seto could momentarily hear the unmistakable record scratch of a DJ before another round of cheering – louder than the first – rolled through the crowd. The DJ paused to wave his hands at the crowd, and another man joined him. At first, Seto had to strain to see who it was through the ever-growing throng of people, but once he caught a telltale streak of blond, his blood froze in recognition.
Seto was out the house and rushing through his yard to his neighbor's in record time. He wove through the partiers joining the backyard crowd late and shoved his way close enough to the stage to see exactly what he had feared: Joey Wheeler.
"Good evening, everyone!" Wheeler shouted to the crowd through a wireless microphone. "How are you all doing tonight?" He received thunderous hollers in response. "That's what I like to hear," he continued with a laugh. "Thank you all once again for joining me this evening to kickoff the weekend. And a special thank you to our host, Mr. Wakelin, for allowing us to use his estate." Wheeler gestured to Seto's neighbor, who stood off in the distance, watching the events with an amused smile and small wave. Wheeler rattled off a few more names to thank, which Seto realized in the back of his mind that he recognized from somewhere. Unfortunately, he was preoccupied with glaring daggers at the blond emcee – daggers, apparently, that were tangible enough for Wheeler to feel. As he cast one last sweeping look over the crowd, he caught Seto's eye and grinned mischievously. "And now, I'll let DJ Galvan take over." He switched off the mic and hopped down from the stage opposite from the crowd.
Seto wasn't going to let him get away that easily. He ducked back through the crowd (which had become more vicious once the DJ had begun his performance), all the while trying to keep an eye on Wheeler. This obviously proved more difficult than he originally thought – Wheeler was gone almost instantly. Once he was free of the crowd, he stopped and looked around, trying to spot him or any indication of where he'd gone. No such luck.
The house! It was the only place Wheeler could have escaped to so quickly. Seto made a beeline for the front door of Wakelin's mansion, peeking into the occasional window to pinpoint the exact room the blond could have been taking refuge in. He finally spotted him talking to Wakelin in the kitchen (of course), filching food every now and then from the platters that the servers were carrying out to the party. Once he made it to the main entrance, Seto worked his way back to where he assumed the kitchen to be. He burst through the doors triumphantly...only to find Wakelin alone.
"Ah, Mr. Kaiba," Wakelin said, giving him a small smile. "Glad you could make it. I would have invited you myself, but I figured this wasn't really your thing."
"Thank you," Seto replied, forcing himself to be civil. "Did you happen to see where Wheeler ran off to?"
Wakelin scratched his chin in thought. "No. All he said was that he wanted to check in with the guests in the main parlor."
Seto nodded and made to leave when a thought struck him. "How do you two even know each other in the first place?"
Wakelin grinned. "Oh, Joey and I go way back. We met in Marseilles the spring of his gap year. He was doing some consulting work for the French division of my firm."
"And what is your firm's business?" Seto asked, trying (and failing) to see how a refined gentleman like Wakelin and a pathetic sore loser like Wheeler could have even touched the same social circles.
Wakelin smirked, making his eyes twinkle. "I'm an acquisition specialist." Before he could say anything further, one of the servers tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Seto took this as his cue to leave.
Seto stalked through the corridors of the mansion, carefully dodging the gaggles of partiers, who were only becoming more intoxicated and less self-conscious as the night wore on, back to the main parlor. He poked his head in and grimaced when he saw only a group of middle-aged women tittering on the couches.
"Ooh, he's even more gorgeous in real life!" one of them said suddenly in what she probably thought was a covert whisper. Seto glanced over to the speaker and her companions, which prompted them to continue.
"Yeah, but his eyes are so cold," said another with a shiver to match.
A third leaned in and covered her mouth as she said, "It's called piercing, dear. Personally, I think it's hot."
They all laughed, and Seto fought back the reflexive blush that rose. He spun around and hurried out of the parlor, though not quickly enough to miss hearing the first lady say, "Oh, look, you've scared him away!" followed by more laughter.
Eager to put that scene far behind him, Seto continued through the mansion, glaring into each room, much to the amusement of the drunk party-goers. Once he circled twice through the ground floor, he came to the grudging conclusion that he Wheeler simply was not there. So, he returned to foyer and deliberated between going back outside or...upstairs.
Though he could count the number of non-work parties he'd attended on one hand, Seto wasn't oblivious to what notoriously went on in the bedrooms of house parties. He wasn't sure that he was completely willing to risk intruding on that (or worse, catching Wheeler engaging in it) just to find the blond. But a surge of the vestiges of anger at the fifth Blue Eyes fiasco and embarrassment with the birds and the bees conversation steeled his resolve. Wheeler would be made to pay; the universe had even seen fit to deliver him to Seto's neighborhood.
So off he went upstairs. He made sure to listen at each door before opening it, a strategy that worked for all but one painfully awkward encounter. Seto made it to the end of the hallway and looked between the doors on either side of him before making the snap decision to go left. He entered a study that appeared empty until the office chair swiveled around.
"Took ya long enough," Joey said through a smirk. He stood up and came around the desk so that he could lean on it. "I was dying of boredom waiting for you."
Seto crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "That's what you get for running away. Like a coward."
Joey growled. "I am not a coward!" He sighed and recomposed himself. "Anyway, enjoying the party? I figured that since you were desperate to spend a whole day with me and Vickie, of all people, you probably needed to socialize. So..." he trailed off as he spread his arms to gesture all around him.
"This mess of a party is the last thing I need," Seto responded, "especially one with you."
Joey flinched (and while Seto ordinarily would have been proud of making him do so, he figured that Wheeler was doing it just to be dramatic). "Jeez," he said, "and here I was, hoping you'd lighten up. Oh, well. At least one Kaiba knows how to have fun." And he turned his back on Seto to look listlessly out the window behind the desk.
Seto followed suit, almost afraid of what he'd see, if Wheeler's implication was any indication. Sure enough, in the backyard beneath them, Seto watched as a black-haired teen crowd surfed over the pulsating crowd. After a few more minutes, a group of young women squealed in excitement and pulled him down into their group.
Seto's eyes widened in terror. He rounded on Joey. "You," he seethed.
Joey held out his hands in mock innocence. "Hey, don't look at me. It's not my fault your brother likes to party." He tapped his chin. "Which, come to think of it, I learned because of you."
Seto thought back to what Wheeler was referring to and briefly remembered telling Mokuba to ruin Serenity's house party. He clenched a fist, even more upset now that he realized that Wheeler had a point. Without a word more, Seto stormed from the office and wove his way back out to the yard. Once he was there, it was too easy to spot Mokuba – he was surrounded by girls clawing at him. (Of course, the teen was basking in it all.)
"Oh, Mokuba, you're our favorite Kaiba brother," Seto heard one of them say as he approached.
"Yeah!" another agreed. "You're the nice one."
"And you're cuter!" a third purred, and Mokuba playfully swatted her hand away.
"Mokuba," Seto shouted over the music, "what are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that you weren't coming."
"See what I mean?" the second girl said conspiratorially to the others, who then giggled.
Mokuba looked up. "Oh, hey bro. I know it looks like I'm at the party, but there's a good explanation for this."
Seto quirked an eyebrow expectantly.
"See, I noticed these lovely ladies here –" at which said girls giggled again – "and came to make friends. You're always saying that we have to interact with our fanbase. So, it's just business, really."
Seto stared in shock, wondering if Mokuba really expected him to believe such a boldfaced lie. He had half a mind to grab the teen and drag him back to the mansion but thought better of it. "We're leaving. Now." he said.
"Oh, come on, we were just –" Mokuba began, but he was promptly cut off by the sound of sirens.
It took a moment for the partiers to realize it, but when the DJ paused his mix, it became abundantly clear that the police were there to shut it down. In the sudden silence, the crowd mumbled amongst themselves until they seemed to come to a consensus to beat it. In mere seconds, the guests had dispersed, most going back front or disappearing inside the house. However, a considerable number of them (mostly the under-aged ones, Seto noted) decided to cut through the Kaibas' yard back out to the street; Seto tried his hardest not to pay it too much attention for fear of an oncoming headache.
"Crap," one of the girls said, "I don't have my fake ID on me."
"I didn't even know I was supposed to bring mine!" another replied. They all exchanged a worried look before taking off, almost taking Mokuba with them.
Mokuba sighed, then joined his brother's side. "Time to go home, I guess," he said casually.
Seto only shook his head and walked back with him. "I hope you had fun tonight," he said, now having to practically shout over the sirens.
Mokuba nodded. "You know it's a good party when the police shut it down."
"I'm glad. Because you're grounded."