Chapter 20: Growing Suspicion

It was Friday afternoon and Seto suspiciously eyed the multiple cars parked in his driveway that he didn't recognize upon his return home from work. After parking and turning off the engine, the low rumble of loud music blasting from his house could be heard. Seto took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from becoming overwhelmed with annoyance which could easily turn into rage at a moment's notice. He suspected that he knew what was going on and now Mokuba's insistence that Seto stay overnight after his out-of-town meeting made sense. The discussion about Serenity's party happened less than a week ago and while he found it odd that he hadn't heard anything else after that, he had been hopeful she had somehow forgotten her intentions to throw a party using the Kaiba Mansion as the setting for the celebration. What even was a 'Last First Day of the Semester' party anyway? Seto shook his head, refusing to ask himself questions he didn't want to know the answer to.

Seto took out his keys as he approached the front door but slipped them back into his pockets when he saw the door was already slightly ajar. Seto took another deep breath; he could feel the annoyance morphing into rage, but he could still put a stop to it. He pushed open the door and saw multiple people, many of which were clearly in college, mulling about in his home. None of the college kids appeared to pay him any mind—the music was much too loud for anyone to pay attention to anyone coming and going. Seto kicked off his shoes by the door and shot glares at each college kid he passed, noting that many of them were still wearing their shoes in the house. Seto's eyes were shifting from side to side as he slipped through the crowd, looking for one particular person. When he found his way into the kitchen, that was when Seto found Mokuba, standing next to Serenity with a bunch of other people that formed a small circle.

"Mokuba, care to explain to me what's going on?" Seto asked after walking over to Mokuba and Serenity. Their circle of friends instantly became quiet, and all eyes fell on Mokuba.

"Nii-sama, you're back! What are you doing here? I thought you were at an out-of-town meeting until late tonight. Weren't you going to be staying at a hotel?"

"I said I might stay at a hotel; I never said I would. It just so happens the meeting ended early today so I came home," Seto replied. He eyed the gaggle of friends standing around and near his brother and Serenity. The college kids eyed one another and then quickly dispersed, sensing the conversation would be going in a bad direction.

"I'm glad you could make it, Kaiba!" Serenity said, stepping forward and handing Seto a drink, "Now the party can really get started! By the way, I so appreciate you letting me use your place to host my party. I didn't think so many people would come since there aren't a lot of people from Domino City that go to my university, but I guess everyone was excited to celebrate one last time before the semester began." Serenity was holding a champagne glass in her hand and took a long sip before slinging her arm around Seto's.

"Wait, Serenity, let me talk to Seto really quick before…" Mokuba said but Serenity started guiding Seto through the crowd of people and towards the door that led to the backyard.

"Your brother is SO nice by the way… did you know that?" Serenity slurred one or two of her words as she spoke.

"Geez, what time did this party start? Are you drunk already?" Seto asked, attempting to pull his arm out of her hold but she tightened her grip as she guided him outside to the patio. More people were gathered outside, a couple were seated at tables playing Duel Monsters while others were playing table tennis and beer pong. Seto was at least relieved to see that someone was playing Duel Monsters but didn't understand the appeal of playing outside on a table in the heat when he had a perfectly good duel arena in the basement of his home. That thought was immediately followed by relief that no one had discovered the duel arena; the last thing he wanted was a bunch of drunk college kids throwing up all over his tech.

"That's a good question, I can't remember when everyone showed up, but it feels like everyone has been here forever. It's great!" Serenity exclaimed and then suddenly jerked Seto to the left. "There you are, Joey. I was looking for you!"

"Oh…" Joey said when his and Seto's eyes met. Joey was standing alone in the corner of the backyard, a water bottle in one hand and his phone in the other.

"Wheeler, am I to believe you were a co-conspirator in the planning of this party with Mokuba?" Seto's eyes narrowed.

Serenity finally let go of Seto's arms and she leaned over to whisper in Joey's ear. Speaking at a regular volume, she said, "Can you keep this guy busy? He's going to totally kill the vibe of my party!"

"Serenity, maybe you should slow down on the champagne. How about I get you a water instead?" Joey reached for Serenity's glass, but she pulled away, her head turning upon someone calling her name from a nearby table.

"I gotta go, thanks for stopping by Kaiba Corp.! It was great seeing you," Serenity exclaimed, waving goodbye before disappearing into the sea of people standing in the backyard.

"Did she just call me Kaiba Corp.?" Seto asked.

"Yeah, she might be a little drunk… or a lot drunk. Not sure what happened there," Joey said with a chuckle.

Seto wasn't amused, "Wheeler, when I said I wanted no part in the planning of the event, I didn't mean I wanted you and Mokuba to plan it entirely without me knowing about it. What the hell is wrong with you? And speaking of getting drunk, I sincerely hope you're not because I'm going to need you sober to help me ship all of these kids out of my house."

"No way I had any part of this. Mokuba and Serenity schemed this all up. I just drove her over here this morning to help set up for the party and that's when I found out you were gone. I promise I didn't know anything about it," Joey pleaded and then gestured towards the water bottle in his hand, "And I'm not drunk. I'm keeping an eye out to make sure no boys try to pull a fast one on my sister while she's very clearly inebriated."

"Great to hear, now help me shut down this party before this situation gets out of hand," Seto commanded.

"Come on, Kaiba. Can't we wait another hour before kicking everyone out?"

"Wheeler, I'm not asking and if you're not going to help, then you can be the first to leave and you can take your sister with you."

"Fine, I'll help you kick people out now," Joey groaned, placing his water bottle down on a nearby table and stretching his fingers until they cracked. If there was one thing he knew about drunk people, it was that they got feisty when they were being told what to do. At least that had been Joey's experience, of the experiences he could remember.

"Whoa… Joey? Is that you?" asked a familiar female voice from behind Joey and Seto. Both Seto and Joey turned around and saw Tea, Tristan, and Yugi standing before them. Joey's jaw dropped and Seto remained expressionless but frozen.

"I can't believe this… Guys! What are you doing here? This is incredible!" Tea said, running over to Joey and wrapping her arms around his neck. Tristan and Yugi followed, both greeting Joy with a pat on the back after Tea broke away from the hug. Tea was wearing flowy, brown top with tight, light wash jeans. Yugi was wearing a plain white tee under a black jacket with matching black pants—knowing Yugi, that was probably his one 'going out' outfit and he probably didn't realize how hot it would be until he was already at the party. And Tristan looked the same as he always did—biker vest over a navy blue shirt with bootcut jeans.

"I should be asking you dweebs the same question. Who let you people into my house?" Seto responded while Joey was still too dumbfounded to speak.

Joey was silently trying to process what it meant to see his friends after all this time. The four of them had occasional phone or video calls they conducted in years past but that was way different from seeing everyone in person. Joey hadn't expected to see his friends at the party and was internally kicking himself for being sober—how was he supposed to face his friends without being drunk? It had been so many years and everyone looked so… put together.

"Wait, this is your house, Kaiba?" Tristan asked, looking back towards the mansion with awe, "We thought Serenity just rented a great Airbnb."

"This is so cool. We never got to see your house before, Kaiba," Yugi said with a smile, "It looks great!"

"Glad to hear it. Now how about you leave?" Seto asked, growing more and more annoyed with each passing second.

"Can't we at least catch up? It's been forever since the five of us were even in the same city. We should take a second to appreciate this rare moment in time," Tea said, turning to Seto and stepping forward to give him a hug, "It's great to see you too, Kaiba!"

Seto immediately rose his hands, stopping Tea's attempted hug. "You know you guys hate me, right? What's with all the theatrics like we don't hate each other?"

"We never hated you, Kaiba. What are you talking about?" Tea asked, bewildered by Seto's attempt to block her from giving him a hug. Instead, she wrapped her arm around his arm, similar to what Serenity did moments earlier, the only difference being that she was using one hand to squeeze his bicep. "Whoa, Kaiba, did you get ripped? Your muscle feels like it could break out of his shirt at a moment's notice."

"Fine, you never hated me but I'm pretty sure I hated all of you. And will you stop that?" Seto replied, referencing Tea squeezing his arm and giving a flirtatious giggle when Seto tried to pull away. She latched on even harder.

"I don't think you hated all of us now that I think about it," Tristan responded, "I think you came to respect Yugi after a couple years once you finally came to terms with the fact that he's a good duelist."

"Yeah, I agree with Tristan," Tea exclaimed, "In fact, I think the only person you really hated was Joey."

All eyes shifted to Joey who was silently standing outside of the circle of conversation. While he was hyper focused on the conversation that was taking place in front of him, he was still trying to think through what to say to his friends after seeing them for the first time in years. After all this time, what was he supposed to say to them? Joey had imagined facing this moment before, but he envisioned having more time to prepare—both emotionally and most likely with a script of excuses for what he had done with his life since everyone else's had begun.

"Hold on, don't you and Kaiba hate each other, Joey? Why were you two hanging out when we found you?" Yugi asked.

"Kaiba and I? No, that's not what…" Joey responded but his voice trailed. He didn't know how to even begin. Should he tell them a version of the truth or mostly a lie with some of the truth mixed in? Joey wasn't very good when it came to storytelling.

"Can you get off of me?" Seto said, shifting the group's focus from Joey back to the CEO as he tried to shove Tea off of him. Tea was still clinging to his arm and seemed to think Seto was engaging in playful shoving. "Honestly woman, what's wrong with you?"

"I just never noticed how tall and handsome you are, Kaiba," Tea said, taking the opportunity to jump from Seto's left arm to his right as he was trying to pull away from her grip. She was sticking to him like glue—an experience he has never had with a woman before. "When I left for New York to become a dancer after graduating, it was everything I had dreamed of except for the part where it's so expensive. Now I'm nearly financially destitute and trying to figure out how to keep my closet-sized apartment without borrowing money from my parents every month. Needless to say, it has helped me see the value in a man who's good with money."

Yugi looked down at the ground, seemingly betrayed. Joey had noticed a shift in Yugi's energy from the moment Tea started clinging to Seto's arm and it became apparent something had happened between the two. Joey began putting the pieces together based on Tea's and Yugi's body language. It wasn't just the constant shrugging from Yugi that gave it away, it was also the fact that Tea seemed to avoid making eye contact with Yugi. Joey silently cursed himself for not being better about logging onto Facebook—he was sure the whole breakup was well-documented there.

"Except aren't you also always saying you're an independent woman who don't need no man?" Tristan asked.

"That was the old me, this is the new me," Tea said, turning her head back towards Seto, "So… is there a Mrs. Kaiba?"

"Yes—I mean, no. But I am dating someone," Seto blurted out, shocking Yugi's entire circle of friends, so much so that he was finally able to slip out of Tea's grasp.

"I am too," Joey stepped forward and said without prompt, "…Not that anyone asked but I figured my friends would want to know."

"We all know you're dating someone, Joey. You and Mai have been dating for years now," Tea said, "I'd love to know more about who you're dating, Kaiba. Namely, how pretty is she and is it a long-distance relationship?"

"Oh, did no one tell you? Mai and I broke up a while ago," Joey replied, "But my new girlfriend is way hotter."

"There's no way your new girlfriend is hotter than Mai. If she's hotter than Mai, she's made up. Mai is the hottest girl I've ever met, aside from Serenity."

"Tristan, stop talking about my sister like that!" Joey barked.

"Also, what the hell? Are you saying I'm not hot? I'm plenty hot!" Tea said with frustrating, grabbing Joey's water bottle he had placed on a nearby table. She tore off the cap and threw water in Tristan's face.

"HEY, not cool, Tea!" Tristan yelled before turning and shaking his head.

"Um… guys? How come everyone seems to be leaving this party all at once?" Yugi asked, drawing the rest of the group's attention to the crowd of people running out of the backyard through the house. Joey turned to Seto when they heard a couple screams coming from inside and the two older brothers shoved past the stampede and in through the sliding glass door. Upon entry, both Seto and Joey noted there was a strong smell of smoke.

"This way," Joey said, gesturing for Seto to follow him to the kitchen. Joey and Seto stopped when they saw flames in the microwave and smoke billowing out from the sides of the appliance. Mokuba was standing opposite to the microwave with a fire extinguisher in his hand but nothing was being discharged.

"Get everyone out of here, I can help Mokuba," Joey said without delay to Seto and then ran over to Mokuba.

"Joey, it doesn't work! Nothing's coming out when I try to clamp it down," Mokuba said frantically.

"Hand it over, kid," Joey said, grabbing the fire extinguisher from Mokuba's hand and pulling the metal pin out. From there, he aimed the nozzle directly at the fire and squeezed down, showering the microwave in a white substance. Joey continued to discharge the extinguisher until the flames were gone. Joey let his arms fall limp to his side, placing the extinguisher onto the ground and taking a deep breath.

"You did it! Thanks so much for stepping in," Mokuba cheered, running back over to Joey and giving him a quick side hug, "That was not what I had in mind when I imagined hosting my first college party."

"What did you put in the microwave anyway? Don't you know what not to put in there?" Joey asked, surprised by the situation.

"I didn't put anything in the microwave. I walked out of the bathroom and next thing I know, people are screaming that there's smoke and people are running away," Mokuba responded with a shrug.

"Mokuba, are you okay?!" Seto asked, running over to Mokuba and quickly scanning him for any visible injuries.

"I'm totally fine. Joey saved the day!" Mokuba replied, "It's a good thing Joey knew how to use a fire extinguisher or we would've been toast."

"I was about to ask what that was about. Kaiba, how are you this rich and not teaching your brother about basic fire safety?" Joey asked.

"I could've put out the fire, Wheeler. The only reason I didn't was because you instructed me to get everyone out of the house and it seemed like you knew what you were doing… for once," Seto snapped back.

"Speaking of everyone, did you see Serenity when you were herding everyone out?"

"Not to worry, she's asleep on one of the couches in the living room. I have no idea how she was able to sleep through all of that."

"Let me go and check on her real quick to make sure she's okay. I feel like I'm an expert now at taking care of drunk people," Mokuba said before leaving the kitchen.

Joey turned to follow him, "I better go check on her too. If Mokuba doesn't know how a fire extinguisher works, I doubt he actually knows how to take care of drunk people."

Seto grabbed Joey's arm before he could leave, "Hey, before you go. You and I should talk or maybe text later. Let's start the competition up again."

"Hold on… you want to do that now? Why?"

"I'd rather be dead than caught in a lie to your dumb friends."

"Oh yeah, I was going to ask what was up with that."

"Really? I suppose I should ask you the same question, Mr. 'I have a girlfriend hotter than Mai Valentine.'"

"Whatever, we'll talk later about it. I'm gonna go check on my sister now," Joey said, pulling his arm out of Seto's hold.

"I'll come with you. Someone has to make sure Mokuba doesn't set the couch on fire," Seto said.

Joey stopped and looked at Seto. "What?" Seto asked, feeling weirdly analyzed by Joey in that moment.

"Nothing, I just don't think I've ever heard you make a joke before."

"Now you're really lying, Wheeler," Seto said, "I make jokes about you all the time."

Joey responded with a chuckle and then shook his head, "Alright, let's make sure our siblings don't burn down the house."

"Sounds good."

-YGO-

A/N: Good day to you! I had to open up my calendar app and count out how many months it's been since I last updated because it's been so long. Four and a half months to be exact! 2020 was a wild ride but we're here in 2021 and hopefully starting off on the right foot. For me, it's been a good start because I've gotten over my writer's block and I'm feeling inspired again for this story. The last couple weeks have been magical in terms of furiously writing up funny scenes and having new chapters to look forward to putting pen to paper. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for reading. Have a great day!