Right. Er, no, no! It hasn't been more than a week since I was SUPPOSED to write this chapter, you just, ah, imagined it! Please don't hurt me! (cringe)
~~
"Nii-san, Nii-san!" Came the cry, followed by an overly eager boy bounding down the stairs at impossible speeds. When Seto shot his brother a stern look, the storm that was Mokuba slowed down marginally before pouncing. Though Seto's heart leapt whenever Mokuba met him so zealously, his response wasn't particularly warm.
"What have you been up to?"
If Mokuba noticed the slight strain in Seto's voice that came from getting absolutely zero sleep last night, he didn't show it. His arms, around Seto's waist, didn't loosen a bit, as if he were afraid that Seto might just disappear, trickle right out from between his fingers and flee.
"Mokuba," Seto uttered with an exasperated sigh, though he wouldn't have traded this moment for the world, "I don't have time for this. I was just on my way out…"
After a moment's pause, Mokuba uttered a small "oh" against Seto's stomach, and pulled away. "I see," he whispered.
How did what he say always manage to be exactly the opposite of what he felt? He knelt, pulled Mokuba into a warm embrace, and buried his face in Mokuba's hair. "What is it, Mokuba? If you want, I can cancel. I always have time for you."
Mokuba pulled away, shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't matter anyways. I sure you have more important things to deal with."
Silently, Seto stood and picked up his briefcase. It wasn't until he reached the door that he turned around. "Nothing can be more important than you Mokuba. You know that, don't you?"
Without much conviction, Mokuba glanced away, and nodded.
~~
As he drove to the stupid university that he never wanted to go to anyways, all he could think about was how he was going to give the director a piece of his mind and inform her that he would not be attending the university after all, that he would take his courses online or not at all, because he did not have time to waste.
All he could think about was the crestfallen expression on Mokuba's face when Seto had left, too busy to even talk to him.
"I'll take him to the movies tomorrow," he promised, "Or anywhere he wants. It'll be just the two of us, all day long. I won't even do any work, even if those incompetent fools call to inform me that my computer has just spontaneously combusted and the only way to save all the data is to copy the backup files quickly because the backup computers were also about to bust into flames…"
Quite surprised that he had so much imagination, he nodded to himself and drove a little bit faster, because the sooner he got there, the sooner he could go home, right?
Mokuba was waiting for him.
Right?
~~
The dial tone sounded twice before Mokuba answered. "Nii-san? Is something wrong?" His voice sounded distracted and a bit faint.
"No, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Everything okay?"
"Mmhmm," Mokuba muttered. There was a clunking sound, and laughter. "Listen, I gotta go. I have a friend over, and we were kind of in the middle of something. Talk to you later, okay?"
Shock paralyzed Seto, but he still managed to say something along the lines of "Okay, bye."
Mokuba hung up.
"…Of… of course Mokuba has a friend over. I… I can't expect him to always be mine alone, right?"
The only response was the automated message of the operator, "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again…" But Seto was too numb to do as he was told, and he sat, frozen in his car, one pale hand still clutching the phone to his ear.
"It's fine… I shouldn't be… so… protective… Not… jealous…"
The sound of his mutterings didn't even reach his own ears. Finally, when he had collected himself, he snapped his phone shut and got out, staring at the university. What were his arguments for not wanting to attend classes again? Suddenly, he couldn't remember a single good reason.
He was so going to botch this.