A/N: Before anything else, I want to commend the rescue workers in Russel Square who, just last night, managed to get into London's thinnest, deepest tunnel and geteveryone, andthe bodies out, sothelineis clear again! (Claps)
Here. I got it done, and on time to, despite SEVERE adversity. Namely, a history project, my dad deciding to pull all the shelves out of the room, my computer being buried under a box of books and a saw, the dark because I couldn't find the light switch, being surrounded by boxes and generally having the house demolished around me, and then, of course, there was the frog and crane fly invasion before a brutal attack by a stack of old Garfield video tapes.
The upshot of it all was that I had to miss Lethal Weapon 3 to write this. See how much I care about my readers:-)
So, without further ado:
Review Responses:
Willowwind-of-the-many-reviews: Not ALL British people pop up like that. I do. But not everyone does. It's just Ryou being his ghostly self. XD Anyhoo, Seto is fun to tourment. And who can imagine Yugi getting 'sloshed'? He's too innocent!That's why I put it in, kinda, cause I can't imagine it. Remind me to tell you the lyrics to the Goblin song some time... Anyhoo, you can imagine him conked out on Ryou's sofa, can't you? Awwww...
Dragonlady222: You love the fic, I love nice reviewers! Everyone's happy:0)
Lily of the Shadow: Just... Thanks for your support. I don't know how long it'll take, to be honest. Probably longer then we'll be alive. We just have to hope and pray that it'll all come right in the end. And now, more cheerful things. After all, they are only trying to scare us out ofournormal lives. And we can't let themdo that, now can we?
Disclaimer: I haven't gained anything since the Prologue. And, speaking of the Prologue, What better way to start the chapter then with a flashback…:
Epilogue: A Fresh Start
Seto growled softly to himself and banged on the door again. Finally, his younger brother's head appeared.
"Yes?" He said innocently. And loudly.
"Turn it down!" Seto ordered.
"What?" Mokuba asked.
"I said turn it down!" Seto bellowed over the music that was now more then ever pouring out into the corridor and polluting his ears.
o-o-o-o-o-19 Months later…o-o-o-o-o-o
Azreal growled softly to herself and banged on the door again, before adding, a little more gently:
"Oh, come on… You have to come out sometime…"
"I know…" Mokuba sighed from the depths of his room. "I'll be there in just a minute."
"We'll be downstairs." Azreal shrugged. "You can't be late to your own party…"
Mokuba sighed again as he heard her feet pounding down the stairs. He looked at himself in the mirror. The Tuxedo looked better then it felt, at least.
He sighed a final time by force of habit, but then stood up straight. He was seventeen. He was, as of tomorrow, a partner in Kaiba Corp. And if this was the first thing he had to do, so be it.
He left his room and did not look back as he joined his brother and Anna in the car.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
He cursed Anna under his breath. This had all been her idea. It had all seemed so distant a few weeks ago…
"Your birthday." She had said, slamming a hand down on the kitchen counter and thus making him spill his drink everywhere.
"If this is about presents," He had replied tiredly, not wondering how she had got into their house. The Doorman knew who she was by now. "I already told you. I don't know."
"Oh, I've sorted that out," Anna dismissed, waving a hand. "I'm talking about celebrations."
Mokuba blinked. "Oh…"
"You're seventeen." She said, as though he didn't know. "You've finished school, and your birthday is your official induction as a partner in KC."
"Yeah…" He had said, already getting a sinking feeling.
"The thing is, a lot of people in the company are going to resent you if you come into the company right at the top." She had informed him bluntly, leaving no room for argument. "And you have to do something about it. Because, somehow, I think you're going to be the people skills in this partnership." Right on que, they heard Seto cursing in his office upstairs and muttering something about Windows ME.
"Seto, just buy a new computer!" Azreal yelled, looking up.
They heard a thump of something heavy hitting the floor.
"Anyway…" Anna continued, deciding not to even contemplate what Seto was doing upstairs. "You have to do something to show you're not as 'up-there' as they thought you would be. They need to respect you- and there are two types of respect. Grudging respect, like Seto has for Yugi…" She grinned when another thump issued from upstairs. "And proper respect, that comes from liking someone. So you need to get the workers to like you, not respect you because you're their boss."
Mokuba groaned and held his head in his hands. "See? That would never even have occurred to me. And I have no idea how you'd go about it! You're so much better at this then me… I'm not sure if I can do this…"
She slapped him round the head. "Stop being so bloody pathetic. It doesn't suit ya." Mokuba looked up indignantly, holding his head. "That's better. Now, all you have to do is throw a little party…"
Looking at it now, 'little' was not the way to describe it. They had invited all the workers and all their families. And, in a little while, he'd have to make a speech to all of them…
And worse, he had to dance with all their daughters hoping for a piece of the young soon-to-be-CEO. The girl he was dancing with at the moment was particularly heinous; she had no grace, had been dancing with him for almost twenty minutes, always finding an excuse to keep him there, and, worse of all, had breath like a Mongoose.
"Are you enjoying your party?" She asked him. He nodded, trying hard not to inhale more then absolutely necessary. That was it- the moment he was officially a partner, he'd ask Seto to revise the company's dental plan to include their employees' kids.
Just as he was about to give in to his instincts and push the girl away from him before leaping out of the nearest window, someone came to save him.
"May I cut in?" She asked, shoving Mongoose-girl forcibly away before dragging Mokuba elegantly across the dance floor.
He sighed in relief. "Thanks Risa…"
This was the upshot of it all. At least he had been able to invite his friends to- although Seto had probably not been expecting him to invite Yugi and all the rest when he consented. But whatever. They had helped him out a lot in the past, and he wanted them there.
"Stand up straight!" Risa hissed as the U2 continued to warble out in their own way.
"Who's to say where the wind will take you, who's to say what it is will break you? I don't know which way the wind will blow…" That was another bonus point. He and Anna had been able to chose the music. Seto had just made the sound people promise not to play anything too hardcore…
"You're Impossible to dance with when you slouch!" Risa reprimanded him. "You're hopeless, you know that? I don't know why that girl seems to like you so much…"
"Sorry…" He said sheepishly. Between Risa and Anna, he had just brought his dancing up to a standard where he didn't feel like a complete idiot. But only just.
U2's song concluded itself, and the next song played was so blatantly ridiculous that they decided to go and get a drink.
"What is this…?" Risa asked indcredously.
"I have no idea…" Mokuba replied, watching as people stopped dancing in confusion. "But I bet I know who's behind it…"
He glared at Anna, who smirked and waved at him from across the room. The room was in silence, apart from the song, the mood killed.
"Someone left my cake out in the rain- all that sweet green icing in flowing doooown! I don't think I can take it, cause it took so long to make it," The song insisted. "And I'll never have that recipe agaiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! Oh nooooooo! Oh nooooooooooooooo! Oh NOOOOOOOO!" It continued in this fashion for sometime.
Someone snorted. And then some people started to giggle.
And soon, the whole room was collapsing into laughter- though the booze some of them had sneaked in helped.
"What is this…?" Risa spluttered again, tears pouring down her face as the man continued to mourn his cake.
"I have no idea." Mokuba repeated, smiling in amusement himself. "She has a strange sense of humour, that one…"
There was a groan as the song finished, and normal music resumed. Mokuba and Risa continued to have their drinks, now that they were sure they would not spit it out.
"What was that all about?" Risa wondered.
"Don't ask me." Mokuba shrugged- though he had a feeling he did. Suddenly, everyone was more relaxed- like a meeting of friends, not a high-school dance where you worry about what everyone thinks of you. And, seeing as it was his speech in just a few more songs, he was thanking her with every fibre. "That guy's checking you out." He nodded to the other side of the room where a blond kid- the son of the one of the accountants, he believed- had been watching Risa all night.
"I know…" She sighed. "Fit, isn't he?"
"I… wouldn't know…" Mokuba coughed, not used to being asked to comment on other boy's attractiveness. "Why don't you ask him to dance?"
"Do you think I should?" She replied uncertainly as a slow song came on.
"Sure." Mokuba answered, smiling as he pushed her off in the right direction. "Have fun."
However, as Risa left, he was left as an open target. In the middle of a slow song. He could feel her eyes, the girl with the mongoose breath eyes, burning into him. She was approaching. And there was no way he could avoid dancing with her- Risa was not available to rescue him this time.
Help.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"I should really go and help him…"
"Let him suffer…"
Azreal pulled away slightly, breaking the rhythm of the slow sway, to slap Seto on the arm.
"Don't be mean! He's already danced with her for half an hour or so…"
"All part of the job." Seto smirked.
"Yeah, I believe that when it's taken till now for you to dance with me…" Azreal laughed. "Don't worry. I'll be right back. And you have years to 'prove your moves' to me…"
Seto shook his head as she moved away. Just what kind of woman had he chosen…? He watched as Az and his little brother began to dance, talking…
And Mokuba broke off the dance to hug her in delight.
Seto smiled a little to himself. The Seal of Approval. That was alright then.
As if there had been any doubt.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
There was nowhere to go. She was almost upon him; she knew he saw her, and she smiled. If he smiled back, it would be like accepting. If he didn't, it'd be rude…
"Is it my turn to dance yet?" Someone asked, holding out an arm.
"Anna! Thank goodness…" Mokuba muttered, accepting as he flashed an apologetic smile at Mongoose girl, who scowled. "I would've suffocated if I'd had to dance with her again…" He could dance easily with Anna, not worrying about making a good impression, or what she was thinking about him… Plus, no-one would think it was weird that he was dancing with a twenty-one year old. By now, everyone knew that she was practically one of the family- and if they hadn't previously they would now that she had been dancing with Seto all night.
"What are friends for?" She grinned. "And you dance a lot better then your brother, at least. The problem is that he has such long arms… He dances like a puppet."
"Well, you seem to know how to pull his strings." Mokuba laughed. Anna just smiled and said nothing for a moment before Mokuba changed the subject.
"So… Any other surprises on the play list I should know about?" He asked wryly.
"No…" She replied innocently, as though she didn't have both 'My Boomerang won't Come Back' and 'I'm A Gnoo!' ready and waiting.
"Anna…" Mokuba warned.
"Oh, look at the time." She interrupted. "Looking forward to your speech?"
It was a blatant change of subject, and Mokuba knew it, but his brain was overwhelmed by nerves and groaned loudly.
"I think I'm going to die of heart failure before I even get on stage…" He moaned.
"Well, he's a thought that'll distract you from your nerves…" She said mischievously. "You're going to see a lot more of me then you probably would have hoped…"
"Huh?" Mokuba blinked, then started to realise something. "Are you implying what I think you're implying?" He broke into a smile.
"Probably…" Anna said, smiling herself and sounding as though she couldn't quite believe herself her next words. "I'm going to marry your brother. Hope you don't mind."
"Mind!" Mokuba echoed, breaking off the dance to give her a lose hug. "Why would I mind! This is awesome!"
Anna laughed. "I can't quite get my head round it, myself. People will probably think we're too young, but…" She shrugged, whispering so the conversation would not be over heard in the quiet as the song changed. "Oh," She said as the next song began. "Look. A slow song. And look!" She continued in mock surprise. "There's the Wheelers!"
Sure enough, Joey was (Attempting) to dance with Serenity not far away.
"Oh no…" Mokuba muttered, trying to pull away as Anna tightened her grip. "Oh no, oh no…"
"Oh yes." Anna replied determinedly. "Jenna may not be here, but I am, and I've kept in contact with her. And she has inlisted me to the scheme. I kept my part in this, now it's your go…"
"Anna…!" Mokuba protested. "That was almost a two years ago!"
"Exactly." She shrugged "You take too long! Come on, don't be shy…"
"But…" He said weakly. "I was joking…"
o-o-o-o-o-Fall Through the Mists of Time…o-o-o-o-o-o
Slightly away from the others, Mokuba was talking to Jenna.
"Jenna?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you do me a favour?"
Jenna eyed the black-haired teen. "Depends what it is."
Mokuba flicked his head at Ryou, who seemed to be laughing at some joke with the others. "Just ask the guy out, okay? I mean, you two aren't fooling anyone, but he'll never ask you, he's too shy. So just ask him… You two are getting on my nerves with all this self-denial stuff."
Jenna reacted very well under the circumstances, remaining unfazed. "Alright, I will when you ask the Wheeler girl out…" She pointed at Serenity.
Mokuba spluttered. "Wh…what? How do you even know her!"
"Anyone who knows you knows her." Jenna grinned. "So, do we have a deal."
"No." Mokuba laughed. "I'll only ask her out when Seto and Anna… get married!"
o-o-o-o-o-Back to Reality…o-o-o-o-o-o
With the swift precision that could only have been Téa- taught, Azreal pushed in, instantly switching partners with Serenity.
"Think I'll cut in…" She laughed, turning to face the younger girl. "Your feet must be almost flat by now!"
"I happen to be a very able dancer!" Joey said in mock indigence.
"Really? Well then, prove it, Blondie."
The two swirled away, quickly swallowed by the mass of people, leaving the two teenagers standing side by side in disbelief.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Mai watched as Azreal successfully switched partners and she and Joey disappeared into the crowd. Part one was complete, though goodness knows how Azreal had got the younger Kaiba over there to begin with, but it didn't matter.
Now, Part Two all hinged on whether they would finally dance. And they certainly wouldn't if their older brothers were in a fight.
So that was her job. Distract Seto long enough so that he didn't see Joey with Azreal and to give Mokuba and Serenity enough time to get at least one dance in before Seto pulled them apart.
She leaned backwards. She was standing right next to him, but not even Mai could think of a way to start a conversation with the surely CEO. To her surprise, it was Seto who spoke to her.
"Our partners seem to be having fun." He commented wryly, nodding to where he had spotted Azreal and Joey dancing. "Although, I warn you now, if he lays a finger on her, he won't be any shape to dance with you for a long time."
"Fair enough." Mai smiled. "You know, I never thought I'd have a conversation with you. Let alone have you start one."
"You haven't seen me in a long time." He pointed out, smiling grimly. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm as ruthless as ever."
"I didn't expect anything else." Mai replied. "I guess you've just spent too much time around Azreal. That girl is so happy, it's unbelievable… And not even you can help but be happy around her. Amazing."
"Pretty perceptive, Valentine." Seto shrugged. "But how perceptive are you really, I wonder…?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mai demanded as he began to disappear into the throng of moving bodies.
"I'm sure you'll find out." He smirked. "But right now, I have something to do…"
And Mai didn't like the sound of that one bit.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Mokuba and Serenity stood side-by-side in disbelief.
"If I didn't know better," Serenity said slowly. "I'd say they planned that…"
"It's my fault." Mokuba mumbled. "I sold my soul to the devil… She comes from London and wants to snog Ryou…"
"Huh?" Serenity blinked.
"Never mind…" Mokuba said hastily. They stood awkwardly in silence for a moment.
I'll never have this chance again… Mokuba thought desperately If I don't take it now, I'll never forgive myself…
"Well, seeing as we're here…" He said slowly. "Shall we dance?"
"Let's." Serenity agreed happily, looking like she genuinely wanted to, not like she was just being polite.
"Right…" Mokuba said nervously, moving a little closer to begin, heart pounding.
And then the music stopped. Everyone looked up in confusion.
"It's time to hear from the man of the moment…" The sound person said. "Mr Mokuba Kaiba, would you care to come on up?"
Mokuba couldn't believe it. Couldn't he have just had five more minutes!
"Don't worry." Serenity assured him, putting his hesitation down to stage-fright. "You'll be fine…"
It was speech time.
And he was going to die.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"You did that on purpose." Azreal hissed, standing next to Seto as Mokuba made his way up onto stage.
"Did what?" Seto asked, unfazed. "It was the time we'd arranged…"
"I'll deal with you later…" She replied in exasperation. "It's his time now…"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
This was it. He had written the speech himself. Behind the small microphone, he crossed his fingers. If this went down like a lead balloon, the entire evening would be ruined. So here's hoping he'd do well.
"Um, Hey everyone…" He started uncertainly, looking at the sea of faces before him. "I won't keep you long…because I don't want to be up here any longer then I have to be…" He added under his breath. Unfortunately, the microphone still picked it up. A ripple of laughter went round the room. Was that good? Bad? He'd gone blank. He had no idea what he had been going to say! Panic started eating at him. How long had he been silent? Just a suitable pause? A minute? More! He needed something to say, fast, so he surveyed the room desperately for inspiration.
He saw Seto and Anna, standing right at the back, side by side. She had her arms folded, and stood straight- but then she rested her head on Seto's shoulder. And he did not shrug her off. The expression on his face made Mokuba feel hopeful again. Because he had never seen Seto looking happier.
"Besides," He continued, enthusiasm back in his voice. Glancing at people's expressions, he had not been silent for too long. Good. Still, he wasn't finished yet… There was plenty of time to screw up still. His nerves returned with a vengeance. "Today is a day of celebrations, not speeches! So I guess I just want to say thanks." His gaze swept across the room again, trying to meet the eye of everyone in the audience individually in the way his drama teacher had taught him. He saw Serenity, watching him intensely. "Not just for coming out here, but in advance- In advance for bearing with me. I really don't think I'm boss material, but someone obviously does… Seto… so I hope you'll all bear with me while I get used to things, and I thank you all for believing I can do this. I know how hard you all work; everyone in the world with access to our products knows how hard you work, they can see it! And so, I'll work hard to! So then, hopefully, in the future, we can have a company to be even more proud of!"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
He came down off the platform, legs like jelly. Serenity approached from the side, applauding quietly.
"I never want to do that again…" He muttered.
"But you were great!" She protested. "You seemed so honest… Especially since it was all completely off the cuff."
"You were the one that saved me." He told her.
"What?" She asked. "But I didn't do anything…"
"You were watching." Mokuba shrugged. "And I knew that if I had worked up the guts to ask you to dance with me, I could do anything."
She blinked.
"You said you liked honest." Mokuba laughed in embarrassment.
"Well, I won't put you through that again." She laughed. "I'll ask you this time. Mokuba, will you dance with me?"
"I'd love to." He replied.
He had thought he had had all his adventures. He had thought that once he had become a partner in Kaiba Corp, that would be it. His life would be about the company and how to run it. The greatest mystery would be where the virus in the network had come from.
But he was wrong. Another adventure- albeit a very different one- was finally getting underway.
He just hoped it was as easy as the others.
----THE END---
A/N: (Sniffle) Sorry…. I always cry when I finish a fic. Whether I'm reading it or writing it; and whether it was good or bad, I always cry. How appropriate, that it should finish today- It is the end of this fic, but also the end of my first year of That's right, my account is one year old today! Wow… I should make a speech! Though, if I'm half as awkward as Mokuba was… Looking at my speech writing skills, I should probably give it a miss!
I'm quite sad to see this fic finish. I'll miss writing all Mokuba's mis-adventures and seeing what he gets up to as a teenager, but I'm also quite excited. Because I'm finally off to begin the sequel to Amusing for Inspiration, called Wherever you Go! I will return in about two weeks or so, at the beginning of the summer holidays, with chapter one!
That only leaves one or two things left to say. First, all the songs mentioned in this chapter were real. Even the cake one. Thanks to Willowwind for that. Also, thanks to anyone who has read this far, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it:-)
Just in case you are wondering, excluding A/Ns, this fic was 119 pages long. There were 159 page breaks divided into 2,555 paragraphs between 58, 670 words. Quite a long fic!
And so, the credits roll: A big thank you to all those who read. The Cake Song and Seto's weight problem were sent to me by Willowwind Adurois, and Kazuki Takahasi's name is read out here. Jenna and Azreal were original characters, Azreal having featured in Amusing for Inspiration. These are Radio 4 like credits, so there would usually be a joke right about now, but I'm to lazy to think of one. So, instead, I'll just say: Goooodbye!