A/N: Here we go! Thank you for your patience, everyone!
-omg
Seto trudged through the long white hospital hallways, pausing once at a nurse's station to ask for directions. Mokuba tagged along closely behind him. He lugged his backpack full of books on one shoulder, a teenager clearly too cool to care about using the item correctly.
When they reached a tiny room at the end of one hall, Seto opened the door without knocking.
Noa lay on a bed under pale blue sheets. The florescent lights over his head were dimmed, but not completely off. Noa turned his head as Seto entered.
"You're here early. I don't think they're ready to let me go yet."
"I know," Seto said as he strode into the room.
Mokuba crept in behind him and found the chair nearest Noa's bed, dropping his backpack on it.
"Can I hug you?" Mokuba asserted before the twins could say another word.
Noa pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing slightly.
"It's my ankle that's broken, not my back. Why couldn't you?"
Without hesitation, Mokuba dove in and wrapped his arms around Noa's torso.
"Don't be so technical. You're just like Seto," he said with his face buried in Noa's shoulder.
Noa's brows furrowed, but Mokuba squeezed until Noa gave a little cough.
"Easy, kid. What's gotten into you?"
Mokuba pulled away and reached for his backpack. He picked it up and sat down, setting it on his lap. When he turned his face up, he dabbed at his eyes with his sleeve.
"Sorry. Just overwhelmed, I guess."
Noa nodded. "What's with the backpack?"
"I have some homework to catch up on," he said, unzipping the bag.
"Oh? Why is that?" Noa asked, but his eyes were on Seto.
"Like he said," Seto defended, "He's been overwhelmed. He couldn't work last night."
Mokuba didn't say another word while he rummaged through his bag and began to set out his homework. He pulled a small cell phone from the pocket of his jeans, set it on the arm of his chair, and got to work.
Seto settled into another seat, closer to the door. Noa began a barrage of questions directed at Seto, nearly entirely related to Kaiba's Coats.
Shortly after, a nurse came in with a tray of food. She set it over Noa's bed.
Mokuba turned the page in his notebook, but set it down on the floor.
"Seto, can I have some coffee?" he asked. "I saw a vending machine on the way in."
"Since when do you drink coffee?" Noa asked.
Mokuba shrugged.
"Only if you bring me a cup," Seto said.
"'Kay," he said and slipped out the door.
The twins were silent a moment once the door clicked shut. Seto shifted, fidgeting with the key to Noa's car.
"I'd like to take the time you're recovering to borrow your car," Seto said. "It's the only way I can save up to buy myself a set of wheels."
Noa didn't answer.
When Seto glanced up, Noa was playing with a phone in his hand.
"Is that Mokuba's?"
"So?" Noa asked, but the word had a bite to it.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
Seto's own line came to mind, and it occurred to him that he didn't know what Noa's "nothing" face looked like. He didn't know how to tell if his own twin was lying.
"Put it down."
Noa ignored him, the edges of his mouth curled up as he stared at the screen of the tiny flip-phone.
Seto checked the hallway through the window beside the door.
"Now. Before he comes back."
"What does it matter? We're all sharing our things now, aren't we?"
"You're disgustingly selfish," he said, standing up. "Not everything in our family circles around you."
He reached for the device only to have Noa jerk it out of range.
"I need a car and you can't drive," Seto said, his voice strained as he stretched across Noa's bed. "How long did the doctor tell you to stay immobilized?"
He arched over Noa's chest and grabbed his arm with both hands, twisting it until the phone was in reach. He squeezed Noa's hand until the phone dropped onto the bed. Seto snatched it up before Noa could. When Seto peered at the screen, Mokuba's contacts were up and open to Serenity's phone number. Seto scrutinized the screen.
"Six weeks," Noa growled, crossing his arms and glaring out the window.
"But you can't bear to part with petty toys you think belong to you," Seto finished, closing the phone.
"I just think it's cute, you know?" he shrugged, his voice taking on a nostalgic tone as he ignored Seto's claim. "Mokuba dating. Who would have thought we'd ever see the day?"
"Don't make me break your other ankle," Seto threatened under his breath as the door creaked open.
"This is hard to do with no hands," Mokuba said with a laugh, nudging the door open with his shoulder. He stopped in the doorway, eyes on his phone in Seto's hand. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Seto said, confident in his even voice. He traded the phone in his hand for one of the coffees Mokuba fought to juggle. "Put it away while you do your homework."
"Yes, sir."
Seto turned back to Noa. "Six weeks? I'll be sure to remember you said that."
Noa returned to the front lobby where Seto waited. A nurse walked by his side, a small brown bag in her hand, as Noa hobbled on two crutches across the room. A large boot was strapped around his right foot.
Noa wouldn't make eye contact as he moved toward Seto at a snail's pace. The nurse stepped around Noa and approached Seto.
"Are you Mister Kaiba's ride home?" she asked.
Seto spared a glance at Noa.
"I suppose so."
She handed Seto the bag, which rattled when he dropped his arm to his side.
"His medicine?"
"Yes. There are instructions on the prescription card inside." She patted Noa's shoulder. "Have a good trip home, Noa. Stay safe."
Seto eyed his twin with irritation as he corralled his brothers out of the hospital.
