Chapter 26, Piece 27 * * * * * * * *

It was both 'just like always' and 'completely surreal'.

Staff - Japanese and local - bowed and called out good morning as they passed. Seto was like a kid trying to look at everything at once. It would have been adorable if he hadn't been in the LA terminal for KaibaAir close to a million times. Hell, he designed it.

Mokuba gave his brother a tug. "Come on, big bro. We're already behind schedule."

"We have twenty-seven minutes before take off, sirs," Sato added.

Sato Rei was probably the world's most unflappable executive secretary. She had worked in Seto's office for as long as he'd had one. If it involved his brother, Sato knew about it. Period.

After the accident, the woman had run Seto's office without a hitch - as much as three months later, there were still people who didn't know Seto was out thanks to Sato's efficiency.

She came to see Seto when he woke up. She'd done a great job of being warm and friendly while learning firsthand that the executive for whom she'd slaved for years had no memory of her. But later, Mokuba had caught her wiping a few tears as she came out of the restroom. She didn't come back to the States until it was time to take Seto home.

Mokuba had always liked Sato. He'd had a crush on her when he was in high school, but outgrew it. She was one of the few people on Seto's staff who had always treated Mokuba as a future executive and not as a baby brother.

"Kaiba-sama." Sato made some notes on her tablet. "I have uploaded the KaibaAir file to your cloud. You should be able to review everything you wish to know on the plane."

"Really?" Seto smiled at her. "Thank you. I'm ready to leave, then. Where is Roland?"

"Here, sir," Roland answered from the flight gate. "We have the go ahead from LAX. This way, please."

Roland, like Tamora on Mokuba's staff, had started out as a bodyguard and grown into a majordomo. If Seto thought it, Roland was doing it before Seto could say it. It was Roland who'd stayed in Denver shuttling Seto between doctors, specialist, the reeducation center, and the hotel the Kaiba entourage was calling 'home'. He even helped chaperone the center's field trips when Seto went, meaning that Roland had more experience with Seto's injury type than anyone else on their staff.

They all boarded the private jet quickly, and took off on schedule.

Seto inhaled sharply as he stared out the window during their ascent. "Sato," he said calmly when the plane leveled. "I have a pilot's license, correct?"

"Yes, Kaiba-sama, however -"

"Please schedule relearning to fly as soon as possible."

With the ghost of a smile, she picked up her tablet. "Yes, Kaiba-sama."

After that, the flight was largely fifteen hours of sleep and dull conversation about corporate paperwork.

As they deplaned, however, Seto became anxious.

"Kaiba-sama?" Sato was the closest to him when he began to look lost at the arrival terminal gate.

"I -" His head seemed to almost swivel. "We should be over -" He stopped moving abruptly. "The signs are wrong! And the colors are - but I know this place!"

"We're in Tokyo International, sir," Roland said. "You've been here many times."

"No!" Seto was shaking. "Should be green!" He pointed at a wall, breathing heavily. An overhead announcement started and Seto yelled at the ceiling.

In German.

In the few seconds it took Mokuba to drop his bag and return to his brother's side, Seto was hyperventilating and wide-eyed with apparent panic.

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama! It's ok!" Mokuba tried to remain calm himself although he wanted to freak out as well.

Then Mokuba found himself abruptly torn away and shoved toward Sato. When he turned to attack, he saw Roland and Tamora expertly restraining his brother, and administering a tranquilizer. Seto sagged into Tamora's arms and Roland quickly - almost lovingly - swept Seto up in a princess carry. Tamora picked up the case Seto had been carrying and Mokuba's dropped bag.

"This way, Kaiba-san," Sato said quietly. "The car is waiting."

When Seto woke, several hours later, he bolted upright - dislodging the papers Mokuba was reading beside him.

"Where am I?"

"Easy, big bro." Mokuba took his brother by the shoulders. "We landed in Tokyo this afternoon; you've been out for about six hours. That's all."

Seto sagged. "Don't let them do that. Waking up from the drugs...it's too much like waking up the first time. Promise me -"

"I can't, big bro." Mokuba stroked his brother's cheek softly. "You had a panic attack at an airport. That's an issue for transit security, not just us."

"I did not have a panic attack," Seto bristled. "I was mentally overwhelmed."

"You were yelling at the announcement."

"It was in the wrong language." He seemed to realize how that sounded. "Or so it seemed at the time."

"Ok. It wasn't panic. So what happened?" Mokuba let him go and settled beside him.

Seto considered as he shifted to sit more comfortably, leaning back against the headboard "The room was - the room seemed to be transforming around me. I know that is not physically possible, yet, my mind was seeing the space in what felt like hundreds of configurations. But it was all in fragments; like puzzle pieces with no frame of reference."

"Any idea why the language was wrong?"

"None. I was absolutely certain that the 'piece' with tall blue seats belonged with German."

"Any idea what triggered it? I mean, you were fine at LAX."

"Not entirely. I was mentally comparing and contrasting the two gates. They share many details - but of course they would since much of the design is based on function. But as we passed through the doorway, I suddenly thought we were in the wrong place. I presumed it was simply anxiety and tried to find something to focus on but..." he shook his head. "The colors, the seating, even the gate desks. It was as if I were standing in every possible airport gate. My memories -"

"I'm a moron!" Mokuba smacked himself in the head. "Tokyo International has been remodeling for, like three years! The last time you saw it, it was under construction. Before that, it was this sick salmon color. They finished the new concourse tail end of last year, and everything is that steel blue. Which is the same color as the Wi-Fi lounge in Munich!"

"It has tall seating?"

"Perfect for web surfing while you wait for a late flight."

Seto looked thoughtful. "What about gray seating but very wide desks, all arranged to the left of their respective gates."

"Hmm. Another puzzle piece?" Seto nodded and Mokuba bit his lips. "Dulles, maybe? Don't know. I don't usually pay a lot of attention to that kind of stuff." He rolled his eyes. "Pretty much, the only thing I care about is are there any hot guys on staff."

"You'll have to update me on that list," Seto chuckled.

Mokuba looked surprised, then smiled. "Absolutely, Nii-sama. Absolutely. And, if that happens again, tell me. We'll see if we can't identify the pieces together."

"Agreed." He took a deep breath and looked around. "I was hoping my personal space had more personality than the hotel room in Denver. This has less than even the hospital room."

"Yeah," the younger man agreed. "It is pretty dull in here." He grinned. "But this is a guest room, not your room."

"Another hotel?"

"Nope; we're home. But we didn't know what triggered the attack, so we put you in a room with as little sensory input as possible."

"Anything less would be a white cube." Seto moved to get out of bed.

"Hey!" Mokuba stopped him. "Where do you -"

"I want to see my room. And the living room. And the fountain - do we have a fountain?"

"In the house?!"

"Never mind. If the piece doesn't match something, I'll write it down and we can review it later." He paused as cool air stroked his body. "I don't know about before, but today I have no compunctions regarding touring my home naked."

Mokuba snickered. "Yeah, that would be new. Can you stay put long enough for me to get your favorite yukata?"

"You have until the count of fifty," Seto allowed.

But as he opened the door to leave, Mokuba heard, "Five, ten, fifteen..."