She's baaack. KK
Seto rushed back to his room basically shaking with the stress and shock of the information he had received earlier, barely registering the punishment he had recived. 'How would he get the shares needed if he was competing with Mokuba? Or rather, how could he get Mokuba to back off of this plan?' Everything was ruined now, though he did appreciate the respite from the regular abuse on top of his regular sleepless nights. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen, nowhere near it.
He wanted to scream. He was the older brother; he should be protecting Mokuba making sketchy deals and sneaking around in secret, losing sleep. Not his precious Mokie.
He sank to the floor staring at nothing. It is unclear how long he stayed in this position. It felt like hours, but it could have been mere minutes. Who can say? A very malevolent smirk crossed his features and his deadened eyes sparked with malice as a thought, no, the thought to end all thoughts burst into his psyche.
This is fine. This is actually more than fine. Perfect, even. This bastard has done it now! He has dug his own shallow grave. There is no choice now but to die. I will make him rot and then watch the life leave his hateful eyes.
Seto slept a dreamless uninterrupted sleep that night, for once plagued by no nightmares, because now he was hellbent on becoming the nightmare. He felt he had to to destroy his and Mokuba's demon.
The next morning Noa inconspicuously crept though the mansion. He saw no one and made sure to keep his eyes down but glanced peripherally often enough to be aware of his surroundings. Sudden movement from the parlor caught his attention and he ducked behind a plant until he could verify who exactly it was. Noa let out a sigh of relief when he saw it was just Clarissa. Ensuring no one else was around, he walked to her. "I need to see my mother's remains. I have to know and get closure. Things are- please." It was the desperation in the young man's voice that solidified her resolve. "After school Monday, make a study excuse and we can go see her, not her remains. Wear a disguise, wig, something to hide your appearance though. There was an informant somewhere either in the hospital or in the school. I had to protect her and you boys. Sneak away somewhere and change outside of the school, ensure you aren't followed." She spoke in an octave just below a whisper and if the boy's hearing hadn't been more acute he would have missed it. "I'm sorry I lied but you understand." The look of pure joy upon learning his mother wasn't dead didn't go unnoticed by the older woman. He fought the urge to hug her and instead went about grabbing some food and left for his room like this conversation hadn't just changed his life and their plans. 'Maybe he wouldn't have to attend the board meeting after all.'
Monday, Noa all but rushed to Rebecca. "Supply closet." She pushed down her fantasy of making out with him in such an enclosed and semi public area in favor of more pressing issues and merely followed him.
"I want you to come with me today after school and meet my mother." Her face reddenned. "So she is alive?!"
"Yes, it is of course not without risks of going to see her so if you're out, I get it. Mokuba's plan is so hazardous though we have to try."
Rebecca's blue eyes colored with concern, "What happened?" They hadn't really gotten to go into the specifics of Mokuba's goals.
"He doesn't socialize with anyone much anymore. He's always in his room; he doesn't appear to be getting much sleep either." Noa gritted his teeth. "I hate this. I feel like I can't protect anyone. Worst is he's competing with Seto now, unbeknowst to him to get the company's full ownership to belong unquestionably to Gozaburo."
Rebecca went to commisserate and comfort him when her phone rang, "Hold on, my phone is ringing? It's my grandpa!" With Noa's permission, she had texted her grandfather the update that Jin Kaiba was indeed alive and well, using a pseudonym of course.
"Hey grandpa, is everything-"
"Rebecca! I found it! I found the loophole. Wealthy or not, we only have to prove Gozaburo is an unfit guardian. Pictures, testimonies, witnesses. It can be done."
"That's the problem, though." She was a bit exasperated. He wasn't getting it. "There are too many who will deny it, by being paid off or otherwise bribed."
"Noa's mother is the key then. She is actually the owner of KaibaCorp, I found in these documents that I acquired by...less than savory means, anyway that's not important right now. If she controls the company, then who is Gozaburo? Some washed up businessman who is too big for his ego that's who. With her sway, there will be less fake witnesses and we may even get some who would say they saw nothing to testify in favor of keeping their jobs and protecting themselves. We thought we were done for but here it is."
"Couldn't he just have them killed though? Where is the security? The guarantee?"
She could practically hear her grandfather smiling over the phone. "It's already been said. He would just be some regular hoity toity with little to no money. It's Jin's money to begin with. The money is how he is able to get away with so much. This is the big picture now Rebecca. Jin Kaiba is the key!"
She grinned then, finally agreeing with her grandfather's point. "You always go on about me being a genius but you are the true genius here Grandpa! I have to tell Noa, love you1"
"Love you too dear girl, you give me too much credit."
They disconnected. Before Noa, could ask, Rebecca filled him in, "My grandfather agrees about your mother, we'll visit her and hope for the best."
Mokuba didn't show up for school causing Noa and Seto both stress for completely different reasons. Noa thought Mokuba was merely sick from overwork and needed to recover. Seto feared the worst and thought maybe Gozaburo had finally snapped and hit him too hard. 'Oh Kami.' He was more and was thus tempted to leave school as soon as he realized him coming in later had been a lie, the only reason he had ever gotten into the limousine without his brother. 'Is it today? Is he trying to consolidate the shares and give them to that snake today? It didn't seem it would be so soon. Did I miscalculate?'
He avoided rushing home to keep suspicion at a minimum though. Because if he was wrong the consequences could be dire for little Mokuba.
Clarissa picked Noa who was disguised with a blue wig, a fake moustache, very basic street clothes, [think modern hipster], and a ball cap and Rebecca who had pulled a short brown wig on and ditched her glasses in favor of colored brown contacts for the day up from a nearby burger joint. She silenced her phone before getting into the car and carefully deposited it along with Noa's under a nearby bush. Paranoia was getting the best of them; it wouldn't be impossible for Gozaburo to have a tracking device installed in Noa's phone and Rebecca wanted no risk from her end either even though it should be impossible for hers to have been tampered with. Clarissa wasn't driving her usual car, it was a beater her sister had recently fixed up with intent to sell. She was also not dressed in her usual business attire but was wearing something far less formal with her brown white streaked hair tucked under a yellow hat. "Remember the goal is to be noticed by as few people as possible and be recognized by none." She addressed Noa directly then. "I want you to be firm but easy on Jin. She is still recovering. She remembers you were in an accident and has been wanting to see you but I wanted to avoid a psychotic episode. She is, unfortunately, our last option that doesn't hinge on violence." At least not directly, the older woman muttered.
"We're ready," Noa answered and Rebecca squeezed his hand in support.
Seto checked his tracker. 'What are they up to?' No one, not even Mokuba knew he had had tracking devices installed on Noa's and Mokuba's cell phones. Mokuba's showed he was home which made sense. Noa's showed he was at...Burger Boy's? That cheap knockoff excuse for Burger World. What the hell? 'I'll have to check this out after school.'
A/N: I refuse to make promises but I am alive and want to finish my stories so yeah.