Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. It belongs to the creators of the show. However, I do have one request though. It's a simple request really. Please don't "plagiarize" off my written work, which includes original characters/places/names/chapter ideas. I mean if you want to use something that I have written out. That I have worked very hard on and spent many hours reediting, please show some courtesy and ask me first, okay, Thanks – Razzleteddy

A/N: Thanks for reading :) Here's chapter 2 :) Enjoy! –- Razzleteddy

Cry of Echoes

Seto sat quietly while he went over his daily schedule with no enthusiasm. He viewed meetings, gaming tests and such and already dreaded them all. He could tell it might be a hard day for him so he leaned back with a fatigue sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment before he returned to his schedule.

Mokuba on the other hand just sat there in his usual spot with amazement. He gazed out of the window to watch the sky above him. He always loved the morning atmosphere. The soft golden of the sun that highlighted everything it touched as living things begin to stir. To him it was beautiful.

Every once in a while he would watch the world pass by, eagerness people rushed off to do their daily thing and certainly not once did they stop to enjoy the sweet spectacle in the sky, what a shame. Still, he just sat there spellbound by its beauty while serene quietness moved along the car. Only the softness of the radio and the slight anxious rumblings of Seto drifted among the air. Well, after a few more moments of this, he gave one last look out the window then glanced over to his brother who was still checking over his schedule with no enthusiasm in sight. "Hey Seto?"

Seto viewed over to his little brother slowly, "Yeah."

"Is it okay if I go over Yozo's after school today?" Mokuba asked eagerly then viewed out the window shortly when the car stopped in front of his school. He let out a small sigh before he looked back over to him who'd yawned somewhat. "We have a project to work on, it's for school."

"Oh?" Seto thought about it for a second, "All right but don't stay too long."

"I won't." Mokuba went over and hugged him with a smile, "Thanks Seto."

Seto lessened his face softly while he hugged him back. He then reached into his pocket for his wallet. "Here's your lunch money. Please don't spend it on junk food like soda and crap. I want you buy something healthy, understood." He gave him a stern look before he handed it over to him.

"I won't, promise." Mokuba pocketed it. The smile never left his face.

Seto just smirked and handed him an extra dollar with a wink. "Well maybe a bag of chips," he then heard school bell ring, it was time to go. Therefore, he grabbed for his brother's bag, "There's the bell." He handed over it to him with a smile, "You have a good day, okay."

Mokuba smiled more as he took his bag from him, "You too." He reached up and gave him a peaked on the check. "Bye Seto! Bye Charles!" he called out and scooted out of the car.

Seto couldn't help but chuckle while he watched him head inside the building. When Mokuba was out of sight he leaned back in his seat and felt his tiredness return once again. "Let's go Charles."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

At Seto's office, Yami was busily worked on some documents of products he was given. It was about some new line of games that was schedule to be release in the fall. It was his job to smooth out all the bugs first before they started manufacturing them. However, he rubbed his forehead somewhat as he thought that sometimes it could be very stressful for him.

"Morning Moto, how's everything going?"

Yami glanced up with a pause and smiled warmly. He spotted his tired friend standing there. "It's going just fine Mr. Kaiba." He relaxed himself, "You look beat, rough night?"

Seto wandered into the office slowly while he rubbed his forehead. "You could say that," his voice was low and weary. "How are the projects?" He looked over his shoulder with a raised brow.

"Just fine," Yami leaned back in his chair. "I'm almost finished with them here and we'll be able to begin the process soon. Don't worry everything's going on schedule," he reassured him.

Seto nodded with satisfaction, "Well that's good," he smiled some.

Yami nodded with a smile also. "Oh! Iida returned your call when you were out." He enfolded his hands behind his head, "He's down at the lab and wanted to let you know you to call him back."

"Well, it's about freaking time." Seto turned around and walked into his main office. "He better have a good explanation to why he's late with his report," he closed his door a bit hard, went over to his desk and sat down. When he felt comfortable, he picked up his messages and went through them slowly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yami leaned forward while he shook his head with a frown. He recognized that tone of voice and felt this was going to be a long day. He knew his friend was under a lot of stress so he couldn't really blame him. Suddenly, he turned as the phone rang so he answered it halfheartedly. "Hello Mr. Kaiba's office. May I help you?" he then smiled at who it was, "Hello Jin."

Jin, one of Seto's closest friends, which he had met at the orphanage when he was a child there. It's hard to imagine Seto as a child and hard to believe that he would have a friend like Jin. However, Jin knew Seto before he turned into the person he was now. That he was a little friendlier Jin would explain... until his stepfather adopted him that is, then... he changed. Yami sighed at the thought before he turned his attention back to the phone. "Are things okay down at the children's center? … Oh that's good." He lined his face a bit, "Is there something I help you with?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Yeah, I need to know if you and Seto are going to do that charity duel tonight." Jin leaned back in his chair. "You guys are the main attraction and I need to know the verdict." He wrinkled his brow while he waited and hoped they would agree, especially his friend.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Well," Yami raised his brow. "You know I'm up for it Jin, anything for the children's center." He then frowned a little, "But I'm not sure about Seto. I've asked him about it but you know him. … Well no, I don't think he is. … Okay, I'll ask again. Hang on I'll be right back. … Sure." He stood up and strolled over to Seto's door. He opened it to have a peek. He could tell Seto was on the phone with someone and didn't sound happy, nope not at all.

"No more of your PATHETIC excuses Iida! I've given you and your damn pitifully excuse of a team! Plenty of time to get you acts together! And I certainly don't want to wais-"

"O-kay..." Yami shut the door quietly as he shook his head. "Yup, it's going to be a long day." He went back over to the phone and picked it up, "Jin still there? … Well, I don't think now is a fine time to interrupt him. … Well you see, he's on the phone busy with someone else and well, he's not exactly in a GOOD mood," he explained with a slight frown.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"When is he not!" Jin laughed briefly into the phone. He shook his head for a moment and wished Seto would lighten up some. It isn't good for the soul to carry a frown all the time. That was what he would tell him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yami just chuckled softly, "Hey if you want to take a risk then I can always put you through to ask him when he's finished yelling at the other person."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Naah just tell him I've called and he needs to get back with me with the answer as soon as possible. Please try to convince him Yami, all right. I'm counting on you. ... Thanks Yami. … Yeah. ... All right then, bye."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yami hung up the phone quietly and waited a few minutes until he felt that it was safe enough to entered Seto's office. When that time came, he walked in slowly, "Are you busy Mr. Kaiba?"

Seto then slammed the phone down as he glared up at him. "Honestly Moto! Who the hell hires these idiotic people here!" he crossed his arms tightly, "Who obviously has shit for brains!"

"Well…" Yami smirked a bit, "I believe you're the one who hires them Mr. Kaiba."

"Yeah, well who ask you?" Seto massaged his forehead as he felt his headache building. "Why can't I find decent workers in this god awful city!" he continued to mumble nonstop.

Yami just laughed quietly to himself before he continued with his task. "Mr. Kaiba… Seto," he saw Seto him warned a bit for the use of his first name at the office. He inhaled a short as he continued anyway, "I've just gotten off the phone with Jin and-"

"Oh lord, it's always something," Seto groaned a little and felt like he didn't want to deal with anything now. He was tired, "What does he want?" he mumbled through his breath.

"Well... it's about the charity duel for the children's center tonight." Yami inhaled a breath, "He wants to know if you're going to do it or not."

Seto rolled his eyes not at all interested in that. "Charity duel, give me a break." He shook his head a bit annoyed, "I sure as hell not going to waste my time with that."

"Why not, it's for a good cause Set," Yami pleaded with him, "I mean I'm going to do it."

"Well, that's your prerogative not mine."

"But Jin's counting on us Seto."

"So, Jin shouldn't have gone ahead and arranged the stupid thing anyway. I already told him no and he knows I don't like to do charities. And anyway I hosted that charity event at Kaibaland for him last year, didn't I? That's enough for me." Seto just narrowed his eyes without a hint of care in his voice. "Besides I have more important things to do with my time Moto."

"More important than this, come on Seto this is Jin I'm talking about. You know, your good friend." Yami stopped for a breath as he tried to think of the best way to handle this. He still could sense his friend's bad mood and when Seto is in a mood like that, you watch your step carefully. However, despite all that, he wasn't going to back down either. "Couldn't you be reasonable just this once."

Seto rolled his eyes a little irritated once again. Even though Jin was his friend, he still didn't care. "I've told you, I'm not interested." He wasn't in the mood to hear any nonsense from him. He had better things to do with his time. He pulled out his account folders, "Now this discussion is over and I suggest you get going on your work as well before I decided to dock your pay."

Yami creased his brow hard and wished his friend would change his mind. He hated to have to call Jin and tell the disappointing news. He was about to leave when suddenly he smirked as an idea hit him. "Well... all right Mr. Kaiba, I'll call Jin and have him cancel the whole thing. If you don't want to duel me, that's fine. I can understand," he turned around about to leave, "I mean I'll be scared too…" he threw that over his shoulder with a hidden smirk.

"Excuse me?" Seto stopped on what he was doing when he heard him say that. He looked up at him with a hardened face. "I'm not scared to duel you!" he huffed a bit roughly.

"Oh," Yami smirked a little when he knew he had Seto's attention. "I know that Mr. Kaiba, please don't get me wrong here. I was just simply saying. But don't worry, I'll set things straight." He gave him a teasing wink before he left with a small skip to his own desk and prayed that Seto took the bait.

Seto grunted his teeth more tightly. He couldn't believe Yami would even have the nerve. He stood up and followed after him with a huff, "And what do you think you're doing?" he watched him pick up the phone.

"Just calling Jin so he can cancel the whole thing like you wanted, I mean..." Yami lined his brow a bit while he tried his best to continue with his act, he knew Seto was no fool after all. Therefore, he cleared his throat a bit carefully, "We can't really blame you can we. We all know it's a hopeless duel anyway," he stated matter-of-factly as he pretended to dial the phone.

Seto then crossed his arms tightly against his chest and felt his blood start to boil under his skin. He hardened his brow even more, "And what does that supposed to mean?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Well, I'm just simply saying that you're probably going to lose." Yami rutted his brow innocently, "Considering you're dueling against me and all..."

"Oh I'm going to lose huh?" Seto flashed his eyes at him, "Now you look here, you spike-haired goody-two-shoes!" he shouted loudly.

"Now, now, there's no reason to get upset Mr. Kaiba." Yam gave him a masked look, "I was just simply saying-"

"All right, that's it!" Seto stomped over to him with his eyes flaming red. "You call Jin and tell that I'll be there for the duel and you!" he pointed sharply at him. "You better prepare yourself for some ass kicking tonight!" With that, he turned around and stomped back into his office then slammed the door loudly behind him. He sat back down at his desk but didn't realize that he just been trick to the charity duel. He was too busy mumbling under his breath and trying to calm himself down to notice. He then viewed up to the clock and saw it was already eight-thirty in the morning and already felt his headache about to burst of his mind. Therefore, with a tired sigh he went back to what he was previously doing, "It's going to be a long day."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yami smirked more and happily dialed the phone to Jin's office. He stood there pleased with himself as he waited for his friend to pick up. "Hello, Jin? ... Our duel is on."

Thanks for Reading :) Please, Review :) - Razzleteddy