Disclaimer: YuGiOh is not mine. I also paraphrase two quotes from Moliere and William Cowper in this chapter.

Embracing Betrayal

Chapter 22

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday…the days came and went and Ari's agitation continued to grow. Was Matzu misleading her, hoping she would cave in quickly? Maybe the threat was merely just that, a threat. Omaka wouldn't really try to hurt Mokuba Kaiba, would he? He would. She knew he would. He was just the kind of snake his own kind despised.

She watched Mokuba like a hawk when she could and prayed that his bodyguard never failed when she couldn't. It was out of instinct and habit, not out of the hope that she could in anyway prevent the inevitable. Omaka wanted one thing and he would not stop until he got it.

The door slammed open and she jumped out of the chair across from Seto's desk. He had been reviewing level setting six with her and she had managed to disguise her disquieting thoughts until then.

"Sorry to disturb you like this Mr. Kaiba!" One of the men spoke as he and another dragged a third, rather limp man into the room and dumped him on the sofa.

"What's going on," Kaiba growled. Ari's eyes widened as she recognized the battered man.

"There were too many of them, sir," he managed to speak through swollen lips, trying to focus his blackened eyes on his boss. "They took young Mr. Kaiba."

Ari felt the room ice over instantly.

"Who."

"Hired thugs, sir. I don't know who they worked for."

"Omaka." Ari found herself saying and Seto spun on her, the vicious rage in his eyes making her cringe internally.

"What?"

"It's Omaka," she repeated softly.

"How do you know?" he demanded.

Her gaze shifted to the men behind him and back to him.

"Take him to get cleaned up," Kaiba ordered over his shoulder, catching the gist of her gesture. "I'll call you when I need you."

"Yes, sir."

Ari swallowed hard when the door closed.

"Start talking."

"Omaka has level settings one through four of the program and he wants the rest."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed to malicious slits. "How did he get them?" He knew the answer. She knew he knew, but he had to hear her say it.

She took a deep, shaky breath. "I sold them to him, five thousand a piece."

"You undersold yourself," Kaiba observed darkly.

"I didn't need a lot, just enough—."

"To escape me." He started stalking towards her and she warily backed up. "A foolish notion. What else did you promise him?"

"I didn't promise him anything," she answered, relieved to hear her voice remain steady and strong. I made the right choice. "I cut him off and he got angry."

Kaiba's advance hesitated. "Cut him off? Did you realize the futility of your plan?"

"No," she lifted her chin proudly. "That wasn't why."

"You are a stupid girl, aren't you," he growled. "Enough of these riddles! Why did you involve Mokuba!"

Ari winced. "He won't hurt Mokuba. Your brother is just a means to an end."

Kaiba grabbed her arm, his fingers digging through her sweater painfully. "What did you do," he spoke deliberately through clenched teeth.

"I turned him down," she whispered.

The painful grip on her arm eased slightly. "He wants a trade," Kaiba realized.

"He said if I didn't own up to our deal, he would—."

"Why didn't you come to me with this?" he demanded.

She dropped her gaze. "You know why."

Kaiba glared at her down turned face. Long locks of golden brown drifted to hide the remorse of a traitor. He wanted to shatter her, but could do nothing more than stare, rendered impotent by his own injured heart.

"If you honored the deal, he would have left Mokuba alone."

"I know."

"You said you would never hurt him," he snarled, enraged by her docile submission.

Ari lifted her gaze to reward him with the same calm acceptance she had born for the last week. "I chose the lesser of two evils."

Kaiba forcefully shoved her away from him and she stumbled, sitting down hard on the floor. A faint expression of mingled surprise and hurt flashed across her face, quickly replaced by disquieting calm.

I will bear his fury, his hate. I will take responsibility for my actions, for my foolish mistakes made in prior desperation. I made the right decision.

She didn't even try to get up, just sat where she had fallen, shoulders slumped beneath the weight of her choices.

She won't even defend herself! Kaiba seethed inside, but found no words worthy of his pained rage. The tense silence was broken by a soft beep.

"Mr. Kaiba, Joko Omaka is on line one," his secretary's voice announced over the intercom. Seto glared heatedly at the phone.

"Give him what he wants," Ari spoke softly.

"Shut up!" he hissed as he grabbed the phone. "Kaiba."

Ari watched his expression turn lethal as he listened to the voice on the other end. He made no reply during the thirty second call, merely setting the phone back on its base with amazing calm. Ari's hand unconsciously started fingering her only source of solace.

"He wants you," Kaiba finally broke the silence.

Ari's questing fingers froze and she dropped her hand, pushing herself back onto her feet. "I'll get my coat."

Seto watched her walk steadily to the door. Too calm. Too accepting. "You were expecting this."

Ari paused at the door, but did not look back. She could never look upon his face again, the vision of betrayal firmly etched in her mind.

"I chose the lesser of two evils," she returned softly.

"You're a fool, Ari."

"Maybe you're right," she sighed, "but I would rather be an ignorant fool than a knowledgeable one. And given to chance, a fool must be right every now and then."

What makes you so sure it's now! He wanted to scream at her, break her in his hands to bare all the secrets she held within, but she was already gone. The lesser of two evils, what were they? Her loathing for Joko Omaka had not changed, of that he was certain. Ari Nieche surrendered willingly to the situation, because…. Because it's Mokuba. There must be another way….

"This is the only way," Ari finally answered his thoughts a half hour later as they stood on the busy street corner. She had taken nothing with her beyond the clothes on her back to the exchange. There was nothing of importance she needed.

Looking through the passing traffic, Kaiba caught sight of Omaka and three bodyguards, one holding Mokuba firmly by the scruff of his coat. "Was it worth it," he growled to the uncannily calm woman beside him.

"What burns you more?" she spoke under her breath. "That I betrayed you when I hated you, or that you've been forced to choose between your brother and your most valuable asset?"

"There was never a question of choice," he snapped.

"Lucky you," she murmured and he glanced at her. Her eyes were riveted on the boy across the street. "It's easy when you value one thing more than the other."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

The light changed and traffic halted. With a sigh, Ari stepped into the crosswalk. "Goodbye, Seto."

It took all his will to keep from reaching for her, to stop her. Suddenly the betrayal wasn't so clear anymore. Had it even been there?

Ari kept her progressive pace equal to Mokuba's and they met in the center of the street.

"Ari, what's going on?" he asked, looking up at her with worried eyes.

With a slight smile she straightened the brown cap on his head and tapped his chin affectionately. "Your brother is waiting."

"But, Ari—."

"Goodbye, Moki."

She didn't look back, not once, even when she reached the other side. Her resolute walk took her past Omaka and his three guards and she never stopped as they fell in step behind her. It would take a divine eye to see the bloody trail her heart left in her wake.

"I don't understand, Seto," Mokuba tugged on his brother's coat. "Where is Ari going?"

"Let's go, Mokuba," Kaiba glanced down at his brother, eyes vacant of feeling. "I have work to do."

"Big brother?"

Seto turned away and started back towards Kaiba Corp in glacial silence.