Dubiety

Mokuba sat reading comic books in the living room whilst waiting for the text to say the proposal had been made. By his side, he had a huge party popper that he planned to set off and congratulate the happy couple on their engagement. Just as soon as his brother texted to say they'd be on their way home, he'd lie in wait and-…

The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard. They're home? Seto never texted me! He furiously checked his phone only to see that the battery had died. Oops. That's why I didn't hear from him.

Grabbing the party popper, Mokuba raced into the entrance hall with it positioned at arm's length in front of him. "Congratulations on your engagement!" he shouted as he pulled the string and blindly sent a shower of confetti and streamers towards Kisara.

"Engaged? W-What in the world are you going on about?" She sniffed staring at him in confusion, with eyes already red from crying. "I'm…We're not engaged, and you may as well forget it ever happening because he dumped me." She told him sadly knowing it wasn't his fault he was just as much a victim in this as she was.

"Seto dumped you? That makes NO sense! He was excited. He was going to propose. He showed me the ring last night!"

With a shaky breath, Kisara started to the living room and began gathering any items of hers she could find. "I-I'm sorry Mokuba but it was all just a lie, he..he tricked us both. Your brother never loved me," She swallowed hard holding back a fresh wave of tears.

"No that's NOT true! Seto does love you, You mean everything to him, maybe even more than I do." Confused tears began to form in his eyes as he watched her gather more things in her arms. "Something's not right here, h-he wouldn't use us like this… I KNOW my brother, Kisa; there's a reason, we need to find out what it is. What happened exactly?"

"I don't know but he made it perfectly clear that I mean nothing to him." Biting her lip Kisara held back trying not to yell or snap at Mokuba. There had been no love in his brother's words and when she'd looked into those eyes, she'd seen many emotions; anger, annoyance, disgust but no love or kindness. "You're welcome to go ask him yourself… but I'm done. I want no part of it."

Mokuba did his best to not burst into tears and cry as he listened to Kisara talk. There was a harshness to her voice he'd never heard before, though given her anguished state it was to have been expected. "You wouldn't be so quick to say that if you'd seen him yourself during your kidnapping!" he snapped before pursing his lips. Getting angry wasn't going to solve or even help the situation, but perhaps if Kisara knew how much his brother had worried about her during that time, it might make her reconsider leaving right now. "I'm not going to excuse what he's said or done, I just think you should be aware of how he handled things back then, so just hear me out…"

Staying quiet she listened to Mokuba speak. Fresh tears threatened to run down her cheeks. She wanted to believe, gods she did but she couldn't shake what had been said to her, the look in Kaiba's eyes, his tone of voice, it all went against what Mokuba was saying. You didn't say those sorts of gross, horrible things to someone you love.

Breathing deep, Mokuba began to recall past events. "Although Seto put on a front to appear confident when communicating with the kidnapper, he was anything but. He was beside himself with worry over you; constantly fidgeting, sinking into his own thoughts and trying to figure out a way to get you back swiftly without putting you at risk. The taunts, threats and demands he received from the kidnapper prevented him from being able to involve the police. Even so, he wasn't going to sit back and do nothing. He had Roland checking hours and hours worth of the city's surveillance cameras for clues whilst Pegasus and myself did our best to assure him he wasn't at fault and that he'd get you back safely. He was handling things pretty well until…"

His words trailed off and he became hesitant as to whether or not he should continue. After all, he'd promised his brother that he wouldn't ever reveal to Kisara,- or anyone,- what had happened next. But at the same time, wasn't it keeping such secrets that had helped lead to this? She deserved to know the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it made him, her or his brother feel. He continued, "Until the kidnapper sent a video of… of him…r-raping you."

At the mention of the video, Kisara's arms dropped along with everything else she was holding. No, no, no! That couldn't be true, not only did Kaiba know but he'd seen it, how the kidnapper had overpowered her despite her struggles. Her vision became blurred as she was overcome with a new wash of tears and dropped to her knees. "I didn't think…He…he wasn't supposed to know…I never wanted him to know." She croaked weakly between soft sobs holding herself, the pain in her chest sharper than ever. When would this nightmare end? "Who….who else knows about this?"

How the hell and why his brother would purposely cause Kisara such upset was unfathomable. It was torture seeing her cry. Even more so now Mokuba knew he'd just contributed towards her dismay himself by revealing the kidnapper had recorded and distributed such a vile act. Understandably it was something she wanted to forget about, but why hadn't she or Seto mentioned it to each other? Surely they'd have been able to overcome their feelings together instead of them each keeping it a dark secret each to themselves.

Mokuba looked away in discomfort as he answered her question. "A few know about the video, of those few only Seto and the guy he entrusted to find the warehouse's location ever saw it. I heard some of the audio, as did Pegasus who was the one to snatch Seto's phone and stop the video from playing. Roland's aware of it all having happened, but that's all. As for the video itself, Seto erased the file he'd been sent the first chance he got after your rescue. Whether or not the police found the original on the kidnapper's phone, I don't know… What I do know though, is that you shouldn't feel ashamed. You did nothing wrong and nobody thinks any less of you for having been a victim."

He sniffed and used his sleeve to wipe away the tears lingering in his eyes before straightening himself up and facing Kisara once more. "When it happened, Seto was so distraught by what he saw that he was violently sick. After that, it became harder to get him to think rationally or remain even remotely calm. He just wanted you back before you were made to suffer any more, regardless of what it would take. I was so mad at him for having made the city-wide announcement on the blimp, and I didn't hold back when I let my feelings known either. It was right before the kidnapper called for the very last time. Seto was quite delirious by then. When the sound of the gunshot came down the line as he shot you, absolute horror hit us all like a truck. Then the doctored image of you came through… and I saw red."

There was a brief pause as Mokuba sadly thought back to that moment. "I lunged at Seto, pummelling, screaming and ready to tear him to pieces for his recklessness. Somehow Pegasus managed to pull me away and into another room where he calmed me down enough to try and explain the situation from my brother's perspective. How his sorrow and desperation had resorted him to second-guessing the kidnapper's moves as though it were a game of chess; one that he'd regrettably lost."

More silence and a growing sensation of extreme discomfort crept upon him. "I don't know how much Seto's told you about our adoptive father, but he wasn't a very nice man. He resented adopting us and put Seto through hell with an extremely advanced learning program and a vigorously strict disciplinary system. One mantra he forced upon him was that 'failure means death'; turns out it wasn't just something he meant metaphorically. Unfortunately, it's had a lasting effect on Seto. So much so that he was wracked with so much guilt for what he was led to believe was your death, and was prepared to take his own life."

Tears began to well up again and his lip constantly trembled as he spoke. "I was s-so s-scared when I s-saw him s-standing there at the o-open window r-ready to jump… I m-managed to talk him out of it, and h-held him whilst he cried." He wiped his eyes and looked directly at Kisara, his voice now sounding more stable. "You should note, that was the first and only time I've seen Seto cry since he was nine years old… Think what you want, but DON'T YOU DARE tell me again that he doesn't love you or that you mean nothing to him!" He stared in an assertive manner that he'd seen his brother use a million times or more. Unlike his brother though, he lacked the gall to display his vexation for very long and soon dropped his glare.

Shakily choking back tears Kisara looked at Mokuba, her heart ached for him. Truthfully she'd hoped to avoid this to just pack up and leave quietly, She understood how he felt but she was struggling to believe what had been said. "Loves me or not, whatever his reason he…he's made clear that I'm not wanted anymore."

"Look, I'll go talk to him and see if I can get to the bottom of this. Continue to pack your bags if you must, but please don't leave until I get back." Mokuba pulled out his phone to call for someone to come pick him up, only to remember that the battery had died. Look's like I'll be using the landline instead. Before that though, there was something else he really needed to do first as he walked up to Kisara, wrapped his arms around her and blubbed, "I'm sorry."

"No, you have nothing to apologize for." She hugged him back "It's not your fault, Your brother's choices are his own… I'm just sorry things didn't work out like we'd hoped."