10 Never Again

Ehhh...a rather sentimental chapter. I almost cried while I was editing it. How stupid of me. (-_-)

And by the way...I KNOW that Seto would never yell at his brother in real life, but bear with me for the story's sake, willya? I'm trying to be original!

Domo!

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//I gotta be honest// //I think you know//

//We're covered in lies and that's okay//

//There's somewhere beyond this, I know//

//But I hope I can find the words to say//

//Never again, no//

//No, never again//

Vertical Horizon—"You're A God"

It wasn't that noticeable. The house, that is. Very small; very quiet.
No one suspected or saw anything. No one could have. But he knew better.

He walked noiselessly to the door and tried the knob. *Locked...*

*What was that?* Voices within. He froze as he recognized one of them...

*That's it. He's here.*

Stepping back, he mentally estimated how much force he would need to break the lock...

****

"Mokuba! Are you all right?"

The black haired boy groaned, slowly reconnecting with reality. The dark eyes widened as he distinguished who it was. "S-Seto?"

"Yes." The brown-haired teenager nodded, a slight smile appearing on his face. "Are you all right?" he repeated.

"I-I...think so..." Mokuba tried to get to his feet, but stumbled back. His brother held out a hand and helped him up.

The boy flinched almost unnoticeably as his body's aching was reawakened. *Where am I?* He glanced around. He was still in the house. *What happened?* There had been a crash...splintering wood...the lock on the door had been forced, he figured...a dark figure rushed in...Noah had...

*Noah...!* He shuddered involuntarily.

Seto watched him with concern. "What is it? What's wrong, Mokuba?"

The black-haired boy looked at his brother guardedly. "Where...is he?" Mokuba asked warily. "Where's...where's Noah?"

"Gone," Seto replied. *And to hell, I hope.*

Mokuba suddenly noticed a reddening streak on his brother's coat sleeve. "Seto, you're bleeding!"

He shrugged. "It's just a little cut." There was a pause. "I'm glad you're all right."

Relief cascaded over Mokuba so abruptly that he almost collapsed. Instead, he sank against his brother, tears threatening to overcome him. "Seto...you're...you're not mad at me...anymore?"

"No." The teenager shook his head. "Not anymore." His voice dropped. "Yelling at you...it was immature of me, anyway."

"Ohh..." Mokuba shut his eyes, exhaustion overpowering him.

****

Seto watched his brother protectively as the little one lay sound asleep in the hospital bed beside him. So small...such a reflection of what little good Seto had within him. The only light in an otherwise dark existence...

*My light...* The teenager gently brushed a strand of hair away from the boy's feverish face.

Mokuba stirred, slowly opening his eyes. He grinned slightly. "H-hey...Seto," he whispered.

*My light...* "Mokuba..." Seto paused and tried again. "Little brother, how are you feeling?"

"O...kay..." The boy rubbed his forehead. "Just a little hot...and my chest still hurts. Other than that..."

Seto touched the pendant around his neck. "The fever will go down," he said reassuringly. "I'm just glad you're safe." *My light,* he mentally added.

"Big brother?"

"Yes."

Are-are you...still mad at me?" Mokuba had asked the question before, but he wasn't certain about the answer.

The teenager drew his brother into a gentle embrace. "My light..." he said quietly. "My light, you know that I'm not."

"But...but when you...when you yelled...at me, I-I thought you didn't...love me anymore...that you hated me..." Mokuba's voice dissolved into sobs.

"I'm sorry, little brother," Seto said quietly. "I promised you..." His voice trailed off as he struggled to control his emotions. "I promised that I'd always take care of you...but I...didn't keep that promise." He held the boy tighter. "I didn't mean to scare you like that, little brother. I'm sorry."

Mokuba threw his arms around the teenager, tears streaming down his face. "Big brother..."

"I will never make the mistake of doing that to you again," he whispered. "Never."

Mokuba shut his eyes, sobbing into his brother's shoulder. His chest was hurting again, but he didn't feel it. All he felt was safe...in his older brother's arms.

****

Midian sat propped up on the pillows in his bed as he folded his headset. Placing it on his desk, he replayed the conversation he had just had.

So Mokuba had been hospitalized, thanks to Noah. A short, bitter laugh escaped his lips. Mokuba-kun was lucky, compared to Midian's father.

And now, Noah controlled Kaiba Corporation. *Oh, goody. What else could go wrong?!*

A knock sounded on the door. "Come in."

Campbell entered her brother's room. "Who was calling, oniisan?"

"Seto," he replied, laconic as usual.

"And?"

"Huh?"

"He must have a good reason for calling this late!"

Midian quickly explained. "Now I really got a damn good reason to make it hot for Noah," he finished heatedly.

Campbell smirked. "Right." She moved towards the door. "Well, niisan...good night."

Midian nodded as she left the room. *Good night, imouto.*

After his sister had left, the black haired teenager sank back into his bed, trying to shut out the memories of his father that had rushed back at the mention of Noah.

Whatever you do...take good care of your sister. Promise me that you will, Midian.

I will, Father. At least you can trust me on this, if nothing else.

Midian closed his eyes. *You can trust me, Father,* he repeated to himself. *I will do all that...and more.*