Duke reclined lazily in one of Gozobura's waiting room chairs, playing absentmindedly with the single die earing dangling from his left ear.
He didn't understand why he had to be here. He'd already told Gozobura that the four royal brats had flown the coop; why did the big boss even want him over?
Probably to stare him down while he relayed the exact same information. Gozobura, for some reason, felt like staring at people with that 'holier-than-thou' look he always wore made them more likely to relinquish information.
Not that that was necessarily wrong, since people generally did spill everything when Gozobura was involved, but it wasn't like Duke had been lying in the first place.
In fact, he'd never lied to Gozobura.
"Mister Kaiba will see you now, Mister Devlin," the secretary stated, barely glancing up from her work. She was a pretty girl; makeup applied flawlessly and hair that fell in naturally perfect ringlets- or he assumed it was natural, since her hairstyle hadn't changed a bit since she started working here a few months ago.
He didn't bother flirting more than a slightly over-the-top smile in her direction; the largest reaction he'd ever gotten out of her was a lingering stare that read "stop being an idiot", and after that she hadn't even reacted at all.
She was totally into him.
No, seriously, they were going on a date after she got off work at five.
Anyway, he stood up and headed towards the large, foreboding door that Gozobura sat behind. He wondered if it was foreboding because of how it looked, or because he knew what kind of person lurked behind it. Either way, he threw the door open with his usual smirk and sauntered in exuding confidence.
"Mister Devlin," Gozobura stated blandly, not impressed at all by his pomp. His face was, as always, shadowed, but Duke could tell that the powerful man's gaze was focused unflinchingly upon his visage.
"Mister Kaiba," Duke replied in a voice that Gozobura couldn't prove was sarcasm, bending forward in a dramatic bow. He had always liked a bit of flare.
"Sit down." Gozobura waited until the still smirking pawn did as he was told before continuing. "Tell me what, exactly, happened." Gozobura didn't think Duke had necessarily lied to him earlier; the man had never been caught in a lie before, but Gozobura found that people tended to give more information while he was staring them down.
Duke shrugged nonchalantly and complied without complaint. He told everything, from Seto contacting him to the process of transportation he'd decided on all the way to the way Bakura and Marik rushed onto the jet without his permission.
As Duke left, a smirk decorated his face.
He wasn't above bowing to those with more power than him. He would do dirty work. He would bungle the plans of others.
He would bow so low that his nose brushed the floor… and tie the fat cat's shoelaces while he was down there.
If he had left out that he was transporting four more people than Gozobura assumed, well, too bad.
He hadn't lied.
Tristan rolled his eyes as yet another person came up to him and asked where Joey was.
For as much as Joey thought no one really liked her, there were a whole lot of people that noticed her missing. Of course that was probably at least partially due to the fact that she was one of the most obnoxious people Tristan knew, and it was noticeable that she hadn't come tearing through the halls as soon as the lunch bell rang and promptly gotten in a shouting match with Tristan because dangit running isn't an acceptable thing in Joey's state!
Anyway. That seemed to be the talk of the school so far- the four students who had gone missing. Joey, who everyone knew due to the previous reasons; Ryo, who everyone knew because she used to be the Hikari of the school and then shocked everyone with her mechanical prowess; Yugi, who everyone knew because she beat Kaiba and gave Atem a run for his money. Malik was mostly known for hanging out with them, she preferred being out of the spotlight anyway, and they were all even more notorious for hanging around Kaiba's group all the time.
People were also beginning to speculate about the two groups of disappearances being connected. It wasn't a huge leap in logic or anything, but Tristan thought that this was probably the type of thing Atem was talking about when he told Tristan to keep his eyes open. After all, they were trying to keep the Hikaris from suspicion of aiding and abetting the Yamis for as long as possible, and it seemed that was quickly coming to an end if it hadn't already.
Other than that, there was nothing of interest that happened or was said all day, and as soon as he got home and into the safety of his room, Tristan pulled out his phone. Time to report.
Of course, he wasn't about to call anyone except Joey.
"Noah Kaiba, you have some serious explaining to do!"
Said black-haired boy raised his head at a leisurely pace, giving the irate Egyptian a mere raised eyebrow.
"I thought they kept you locked up," he sneered. Not that he was exactly surprised. The irritating girl was, according to other people, rather charming. He did notice that she was good at wrapping people around her annoying little fingers; that was probably what they meant. She had talked herself into more freedom than Noah had ever had, even in his own house.
"Where have you people put Mokuba?"
Oh, she hadn't risen to the bait. That was new; usually Mana was just itching to take a chunk out of him in any possible way, including disagreeing with anything and everything he said.
"Who, may I ask, is 'you people'?" He smirked, knowing she wouldn't take kindly to his evasive reaction.
"You! Your father! All of your little goons that keep Mokuba and I locked up in here!" She was playing dirty right back, grouping him with his father like that.
"In case you haven't noticed," Noah snarled, standing up from his chair so violently he sent it flying backwards. He smirked maliciously when Mana's eyes flashed in panic and she took a nearly-aborted stumble back. "You are nothing more than a prisoner, no matter what you trick the simple-minded fools that guard you into believing. Neither you or that tiny brat have any right to demand anything of me, or even to see each other. That you have had this much freedom thus far is a miracle, and if you continue to grate on my patience I will make sure it is taken away."
They glared at each other for nearly a minute after that; Noah's gaze lit with anger and Mana's with defiance. But the girl was also afraid, and Noah had all the power. She finally deflated, eyes sliding away and shoulders slumping in defeat.
But Mokuba was all that she had since being sent to this prison. He was the only person she could legitimately talk with, the only one that could stop her from constantly thinking about home and why she was stuck in the first place.
Then he was taken away, a whole week ago, and that block was gone.
The only thing that had stood between the full reality of this and her, was the anger.
Anger which, now, had disappeared completely.
Tears built in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to stop them, but it only made them stream quicker. Her jaw clenched painfully to stop the ugly crying sounds, but whimpers broke through despite her best effort.
Not here, she thought angrily, not in front of him. Not in front of Noah, the heartless son of the heartless father; the reason for her and Mokuba's imprisonment.
At the sight, Noah's face turned to one of shock. He had never seen her like this; not even close. For the first few months she had been timid, even flighty, but there had always been a hint of her defiance in the fleeting glares she sent when she thought his back was turned. After that she'd had a smile; gotten bolder. She was usually politely rude (if that made any sense), since she was friends with Mokuba and the idiot child actually thought he and Noah were something like siblings so he wouldn't like it if she was openly mean.
Now here she was, tears streaming down her face, fists clenched so hard they were shaking, pathetic little noises escaping her sealed mouth.
He floundered for a moment before setting his face to a mildly disgusted expression.
"Just go back to your room already," he snapped, moving forward and yanking the door open with decisive movements, before pushing her towards the hall with surprising care.
She merely stood outside the door, hyperventilating, trying valiantly to force herself to calm down. With the noise she was making, she barely heard what Noah said, almost to himself, from behind the door.
"He's safe."
Interesting Factoid #46: Mana hasn't seen Mokuba in a week, yet the previous chapter happened on the same day.
