"That mouth never quits," Kaiba told his counterpart as he worked in his home office.
"Actually, Mokuba has seemed rather quiet since he arrived here. Maybe he's still adjusting," Seto mused.
"That doesn't stop him from talking about anything that crosses his mind. That kid jumps from one extreme emotion to another in just seconds."
"You'll get used to it."
Kaiba went back to his work. He hated to admit it, but having the child in the same house for so long could really wear him down. He just did not know how to deal with the kid. The CEO had never had to put up with anyone like Mokuba at his company or even at school. He had not encountered anyone like him since, well, since the orphanage. Mokuba was different from most of the people he spent any significant amount of time with. He could be high-spirited and had a hard time keeping quiet for more than a few minutes. But at the same time, he was also more intelligent than most children his age, and there was normally a fair amount of forethought behind most of his actions. His energy never seemed to run out, and even Kaiba had a hard time predicting what the child would do or say next. "I probably did Yugi a favor."
"You should spend more time with Mokuba," Seto replied. "I'll go to Kaiba Corp for a few days. In fact, I can probably handle it better than you could, especially now." When his counterpart didn't look up from his laptop he continued, "I believed this plan would help you two get to know each other so that I would be able to return to my world, but I won't let you use him to get revenge on Yugi."
Kaiba did look up to glare at him then. "I don't trust anyone else to run my company. We're lucky Yugi's cronies and the servants have kept their mouths shut, but no one else can know there are two of us. So I must be the one to control Kaiba Corp. As close as the resemblance might be, you're not me."
"I agree. I would never have made the imbecilic mistakes that you have."
Kaiba's glare turned harder. "Such as?"
"Such as leaving Mokuba behind. You were a coward to do so." Despite all of their similarities, Seto found it hard to respect his counterpart. The story of his other self's adoption baffled him. Gozaburo somehow happened to be the first person at the orphanage. There was no chess game. He just took the child when he found out he was a genius. Seto wondered if his other self had ever even thought of protecting Mokuba. Knowing that he had been adopted into Yugi's family, that they loved him as if he were their own blood, did nothing to diminish his anger towards Kaiba. He had left his brother alone in the orphanage to fend for himself, and there was no excuse for that. His counterpart was a coward. He would not even be worth his time if he did not believe that this world's Mokuba could still benefit in some way by knowing him. From his money and resources at least. Besides, he would do anything to get back to his own brother.
Something in Seto's eyes when he talked about Mokuba made Kaiba turn away. The only thing he himself could remember coming close to caring about this much in a long time was the game. As much as this other version of himself annoyed him as well, he was impressed by how much he cared about his brother. For the first time in years, he began to wonder if he had made a mistake.
Kaiba remained silent for a few minutes. It was unlikely that Mokuba could ever forgive him for leaving him or more importantly for what he did to his grandfather. But perhaps he should try to spend more time with him. It seemed like the only way to rid himself of his double, and Mokuba would most likely return to Yugi once the month was up. In the end, Kaiba did not expect his life to undergo any drastic changes.
~`~`~`~`~`~
Meanwhile"Hey kid," Joey called as he walked into his friend's new room.
Mokuba grinned as he jumped off the bed and ran over to him. "Joey! I can't believe Kaiba let you in this easily."
"Actually, one of the maids did. Kaiba's working or something." Joey looked around the room, impressed at everything Mokuba had to keep him occupied and then turned back to the child. "Is he treating you alright?" he asked softly. "Cause you know if he's not…" he made a fist and slammed it into his open palm.
"It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Seto's really nice to me, and I got a bunch of new video games."
Joey grinned at this. He picked up a Game Boy Advance and found one of his favorite games on a nearby shelf. "Hey, I might even put up with Cree, er, Kaiba if I could have this room."
Mokuba giggled. "Yugi had that talk with you, didn't he?"
"Yeah. And by the way, he's busy with homework today, but he wanted me to tell you that the whole gang is coming over tomorrow."
"Great! Did you tell Kaiba already?"
"The maid will do it. After I leave of course."
"You mean you're afraid of him?" the child teased.
The older boy laughed at him. "Course not. It's just that Yugi doesn't want any of us to cause trouble with him for a while now that we've found out he's your brother." He looked thoughtful then. "I still can't get used to that."
"I have a hard time believing it too sometimes."
"Do you ever, you know, resent him? For getting adopted before you, I mean? Or for not staying with you?"
"No, not really. I haven't thought about him in a long time before this all started. Besides, I got Yugi out of the deal. He's the best big brother in the whole world. I mean how would my relationship with him and Grandpa be different if I had stayed with Kaiba? Or my friendship with you and the others?"
Joey didn't have an answer, or at least not one that he thought the kid would like. So he replied as best he could with, "There's no use worrying about that. Things weren't different, and now you have two big brothers."
"Hmm, yeah, but it has been an adjustment. Kaiba can be strange sometimes," Mokuba looked at his friend for a moment and told him seriously. "Joey, I think I said something a few days ago that really upset him. And Seto too. But I don't know what it was."
Joey ruffled the child's hair. "Happens to me all the time. Don't worry. It'll probably all blow over soon."
"It already has, but I don't know what it was I said. Sometimes it seems like I just annoy Kaiba no matter what." He looked at the floor. "And I still miss Yugi. Things are so different here."
Joey bent down to look at him straight in the eyes. "It'll just take some time to adjust. It did for me too when Serenity and I were separated after the divorce. But we made it through that, and we're still as close as we ever were. You and Yugi will be alright too, even if you decide to stay here in the end."
Mokuba did feel better then. Joey always had that effect on him somehow. They played with Mokuba's new video games until it was time for his friend to leave.
~`~`~`~`~`~
A few hours after Joey had gone, Seto came in to say goodnight to Mokuba.
"Did you hear about Yugi coming over?" the child asked barely able to contain his excitement.
"Yeah." Seto was silent for a few moments and then said, more to himself than to the raven-haired boy next to him, "Mokuba Mutou. It just doesn't sound right."
The child starred at him. "You don't like Yugi any more than Kaiba does, do you?"
"No."
Mokuba remained quiet for a few moments and then asked him, "What happened after the orphanage? He's not the same person I remember there. And neither are you actually. You're nicer than him and all, but there's still this huge difference. You used to smile more. What happened to change all that?"
Seto sighed. "You need to know what happened," he said. "But he should be the one to tell you." Mokuba looked down at the floor. "Do you like him at all?" Seto questioned.
"I like you."
"That's a start." He paused for a moment and looked away from the child. "He is changing, Mokuba. He'll never be… like Yugi. But he's not the same person you met that day, and you'll see that more and more."
Mokuba looked up at him. "I have noticed it. A little." For once, he couldn't find anything more to say. Seto then tucked him into bed and left.
~`~`~`~`~`~
An hour later, Mokuba had fallen asleep. Kaiba peered through the cracked door at the young boy and noticed that his blanket was out of place. He silently went in the room and pulled it up to Mokuba's shoulders. He knelt down and watched his brother sleep for a moment before leaving, careful not to wake him.
To Be Continued