Chapter 2: Be Careful What You Wish For
"Sir? Are you all right?" The voice on the other end of the phone line asked.
"My parents." Seto whispered, as he ignored the burning pains in his feet and ankles. "They are dead, aren't they?"
"Yes. I am very sorry, sir." The voice sighed, confirming Seto's fears. "Their private airplane went down over the country side of my country, France. Everyone on board was killed upon impact."
Leaning heavily against the wall, Seto felt his knees bend and he slid down until he was sitting on the floor.
"Seto?" Tea called as she came out of the bathroom, wrapping her towel tighter around her body. She came into the kitchen and looked down at her boyfriend who was sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by broken glass and scorching hot coffee. "Seto! What happened?"
"Sir, we need you to officially identify the bodies of your parents." The voice with the French accent continued.
"I understand." Seto nodded, still unaware of Tea, who was kneeling next to him. "Can their bodies be sent over here?"
"Yes sir. We will be releasing the news report now."
"Could you, please, hold off on releasing the names for a few days? At least until Monday?"
"Of course, Sir. We will not release the names until the bodies have been identified, anyway."
"Thank you." Seto whispered, as he hung up the phone.
"Seto?" Tea asked, as she gently pulled the phone out of his grip. "Seto, what's wrong?"
"They're dead, Tea." Seto told her, finally meeting her eye. "My parents are dead."
"Oh, Seto." Tea sighed, her eyes tearing up. "I'm so sorry."
"Why? You never meet them. My God, I never even introduced you!"
"That's beside the point! They were people, Seto. Besides, I love you, and they were your family. Now, come on." Tea grimaced, as she slid her right arm around Seto's back and helped him stand. "Let's get you cleaned up and away from this broken glass."
"I'll have to tell Mokuba." Seto mentioned to Tea, as she assisted him walk towards the bathroom.
"Do you want me to come?"
"No. I'll have to do this alone. Besides, you shouldn't miss your play, or the lunch."
"Forget that Seto." Tea scolded him. "You are far more important than a silly play."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mr. Kaiba!" A loud voice cut exclaimed causing a surprised Mokuba to jump in alarm. Slipping off his chair, Mokuba found himself on the floor with a sore backside and head, as he smacked the back of his head on his desk as he slipped off his chair.
"Ow!" Mokuba exclaimed. "What?"
"Were you sleeping in my class again?" The irate teacher asked.
"Sorry, Mr. Roberts." Mokuba blushed as he stood up and sat back down on his seat. Turning to glance out the window, Mokuba wished something exciting would happen.
Of course in the school office, Seto was wishing things would return to normal.
"What do you mean I can't see my brother?!"
"You're not the legal guardian!"
"I will be in a couple days!" Seto growled. He knew for a fact that his parents had put him in charge of Mokuba while they were away, and he also knew he was the names guardian of his brother should anything happen to their parents. Which it had.
"I can't allow you to talk to him or take him out of school without a note from his parents. I'm sorry, sir. I don't make up these rules."
"Look!" Seto said, barely controlling his voice, as he pulled out his wallet and drivers license. "I'm his fucking brother! Why the hell can't I see him?"
"Sir! Please, your language! You are in a school! But all right, all right! You may talk to him, as long as you don't leave this office. One moment." The secretary sighed as she paged Mokuba's classroom. A minute later, Mokuba came into the office.
"Seto? What are you doing here?"
"Mokuba, come here." Seto sighed as he extended his arm and pulled Mokuba into a hug.
"Seto, what's wrong?"
"Mokuba…...... in a few days I'm going to be your legal guardian."
"But how…......?"
"We're returning to the way we were in Japan, Mokuba." Seto explained, cryptically.
"Mom and dad?"
"Plane crash. They were killed on impact."
"Are we leaving?"
"No. We'll stay in New York." Seto sighed. "Are you going to be all right or do you want to come home early?"
"I'd like to go home." Mokuba nodded slowly. "I'll go get my stuff."
"All right. But don't tell anyone. I want to keep this quite."
"Of course." Mokuba agreed, before running off to fetch his things. When he returned, Seto gave the secretary a quick wave, told her that Mokuba would be playing hooky for the rest of the day, and the two brothers left for Seto's apartment.
"You'll have to move in with me." Seto mentioned after a few minutes of walking in silence. While Seto was normally a very quite person, who enjoyed his privacy, any long period of silence with Mokuba was uncomfortable, due to Mokuba's normally talkative nature.
"I know. Are things going to change very much?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Seto asked, his voice sharper than he had intended for it to be.
"Nothing." Mokuba shrugged, looking up at the tall skyscrapers. Reaching out, Seto put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder and turned his brother around.
"Mokuba, do you remember what I told you when we first went to the orphanage in Japan?"
"Yea. You said that we'd always be brothers."
"And?" Seto prompted.
"And that nothing could part us."
"And I meant it." Seto smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unlocking the door, Seto let Mokuba enter first before pointing his brother in the direction of the guest bedroom, which was located next to the living room.
"Go ahead and drop your clothes off in there. I suppose later today or maybe this weekend we can return to the apartment and move the rest of your things back here." Seto shrugged, before turning to close the front door.
"What about the other things?"
"I suppose we'll keep a few things, but the rest we're going to have to auction."
"Oh."
"Seto?" Tea called as she came down the stairs. "Oh, hello Mokuba. How are you feeling?"
"I've been better." Mokuba shrugged and Tea simply nodded, before returning her attention to Seto.
"Seto, Kaiba Corps has been calling ever since you left. I think they know about the…...... you know."
"I suppose I'd better talk to them then." Seto nodded. "Mokuba, will you be all right if I leave you here with Tea?"
"I'll manage."
"Okay, I'm going to go down to the office. I shouldn't be too long, if you'll do me a favor, Tea."
"What?"
"Call ahead and tell them I'm coming. But also tell them that I want the company's lawyers to be present. We've got a lot of legal work to do."
"All right. I'll call them." Tea agreed. Seto smiled and kissed Tea on the forehead, before leaving.
