Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply.
A/N: I'm sorry to say that is the last chapter. Enjoy it, and thanks for sticking with me to the end!
Seto looked down at his younger brother, smiling slightly. The boy was bouncing along next to him, beaming at everyone and everything. They had decided to walk to the restaurant he had chosen, a slightly small but still fairly classy place on the boardwalk at the harbor. Seto had never gone there before, but his brother assured him that the food was excellent, and he had called in two reservations.
Mokuba turned his joyful gaze up to meet his brother's. He reached over and grabbed his hand, laughing. "C'mon, big bro! Let's run!"
"Mokuba, we don't need to run. We have plenty of time; we don't need to be there for another half hour."
"So? It's fun! C'mon, Seto, run with me!" Tugging on the older boy's hand, laughing like a small child, Mokuba broke into a run.
Seto rolled his eyes, but decided to humor him. He increased his pace, eventually breaking into a jog, his long legs easily keeping pace with his smaller brother's leaps and bounds.
As the mansion was set apart from the rest of Domino City, they had quite a walk (or run, as the case may be) before they reached the main part of town. They had only arrived at the outskirts when, for the second time that day, someone had the nerve to run into him.
Seto Kaiba once more found himself falling to the ground, this time in a tangle of long black hair as Mokuba fell with him. Whoever had hit him also fell, and the three of them landed in an undignified heap upon the hard sidewalk.
Seto sat up, automatically checking to be sure that his little brother wasn't injured. The raven-haired boy was sitting a few feet from him, a dazed look on his face. Other than that, he appeared to be fine.
He then looked at the person who had run into them. A strange feeling of déjà vu swept over him as he realized who it was.
"Oof. What happened?" Mokuba asked, his voice as stunned as the look on his face. He shook his head to clear it, and looked over at his brother and the girl who had run into them.
She seemed slightly familiar to him, as if he had seen her once or twice a long time ago. Duel Monsters, something to do with Duel Monsters… Then he had it: a trace of fiery hair on board the Battle City Blimp, watching her brother duel with rapt attention.
He leaned over, nudging his staring brother. "Hey Seto, is that…?" he asked, just to be sure.
Seto's reply came out slightly strangled-sounding. "Yes."
Mokuba smirked, his brain plotting a devilish plan, and climbed to his feet. He walked over to the girl, smiling as he held his hand out to her. "I'm sorry about that. Are you okay?"
She looked up, smiling and taking his hand, letting him help her to her feet. "I'm okay. You?"
"I'm fine. It's Serenity, isn't it? Joey Wheeler's sister?"
She seemed startled that he knew who she was. "Yes… have we met?"
"Only once or twice," he replied casually. "And it was a while ago; I'm not surprised if you don't remember. I might not either, except that Seto's always talking about you." He gestured at his brother, who had also climbed to his feet. He then hid a grimace as Seto stepped on his foot, hissing, "Quiet!"
Serenity looked at Seto. Mokuba noticed with interest that she turned a curious shade of red when her eyes met his. "M-Mr. Kaiba?" She looked at Mokuba again. "Then… you must be Mokuba, right? I think I remember meeting you once."
He nodded. "Yeah – back at Battle City."
"Well… It was nice meeting you again, Mokuba. Um… Nice seeing you, too, Mr. Kaiba. Sorry this happened, um, again…" She smiled embarrassedly and turned as if to go.
Mokuba quickly lunged forward and grabbed her hand. "Wait!"
She looked back at him, surprised. "What?"
"Would you like to walk with us? I mean, if you're not busy?"
"I…" She looked from the long haired boy to his expressionless brother and back.
"Please?" Mokuba pleaded.
"I… Sure, if your brother doesn't mind."
"Of course he doesn't!" Mokuba reassured her. Inside he was practically cackling with glee as he nudged Seto with his elbow. "Right, Seto?"
Seto looked down at his seemingly innocent brother, wondering what exactly it was the boy was plotting. He was planning something, that much was clear, and glancing at Serenity, the seventeen-year-old was fairly certain he knew what it was.
He spun on his heel, wanting to escape from the girl who had somehow captured his heart. But there was no way he could possibly refuse to allow her to accompany them. "It's fine," he said, beginning to walk away.
He heard them following him, Mokuba chatting eagerly with Serenity about whatever random topic popped into his head. It was obvious to Seto that he was waiting for something, though what, the CEO supposed he would have to wait to discover.
He didn't have to wait long, however. Scarce ten minutes after running into Serenity, Mokuba suddenly stopped, releasing a dismayed cry. The two teenagers turned to look at him, puzzled and slightly alarmed.
"Is everything all right?" Serenity asked.
Slapping his forehead in self-exasperation, Mokuba spoke. "I forgot! I can't believe it, I forgot!"
"Forgot what?"
The little boy looked at her seriously. "I've got a huge project due for school soon and I've barely done any! I meant to get some done tonight, but…" He gave her a helpless look.
Seto lifted an eyebrow. This was the first he had heard of a school project.
"Well… Can't you work on it when you get home?" Serenity suggested.
"I guess… But," here he looked at Seto, "Seto and I were gonna go get dinner after this. We've got reservations and everything! And I was looking forward to it." He sniffed.
Please don't tell me he's thinking what I think he's thinking… Seto thought, beginning to understand where all of this was going. "I'm sure you'll be able to get it done when we get back, Mokuba. I'll even help you," he suggested, a bit too quickly.
Mokuba gave him a mournful look, and Seto had the distinct impression that he was struggling not to burst out laughing. "No… I don't want to bother you, Seto, you've got a lot of work to do, too. Besides," he sighed, "you're s'posed to be taking a break, 'member? 'Cause you've been working too hard? That's why we decided to get dinner. But it'll defeat the purpose if we need to go home and get right to work on my project."
Serenity's eyes tracked each speaker, shifting from Mokuba to Seto and back. Finally, looking at Mokuba in concern, she asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, I don't think… Wait a minute!" Mokuba suddenly smiled in joyful triumph. "I've got it! You can go with Seto!" he exclaimed in excitement, grabbing her hand.
"What?" she asked, baffled.
Ignoring her, he continued. "That way, I can go home and work on my project, and Seto can still get his break! I mean, sure, I was looking forward to goin', but this is the best solution, right?"
Seto swallowed. Great. Just great. He opened his mouth to say something, but Serenity beat him to it.
"I don't think your brother would really want to have dinner with me." She glanced at him.
"He won't mind!" Mokuba said. "I mean…" his face fell, "unless you don't want to or something."
"Oh, no, it's not that!" she was quick to reassure him, blushing. "It's just… Well, he hates me, doesn't he? Don't you?" She directed the last question directly to the CEO.
Seto quickly weighed his options. If he said yes, not only would he be lying, but he would be destroying any chance, no matter how small, that his brother's plot would work, destroying any hope that he might finally get closer to this girl. If he said no… Well, that was just unacceptable. Not only was he supposed to hate everyone except Mokuba, but her brother was Joey Wheeler.
"I hate your brother," he said finally. "And your friends."
"But do you hate me?" she asked, looking uncertain now.
Mokuba stepped in. "He doesn't know you well enough to know yet, do you, Seto?" he lied. "So this is a good chance to find out, isn't it?" He smiled at both of them. "C'mon, it's the perfect solution! We have two reservations, there are two of you, I'll work on my project, and Seto still gets a break! Please?"
"I… guess so," Serenity said. "If you're sure you don't mind, Mr. Kaiba.
"Great, it's settled then!" Mokuba beamed, not waiting for him to reply. "And stop calling him 'Mr. Kaiba,' at least for tonight," he added. "That's too formal; just have fun!" With that, he waved, turned, and sprinted in the opposite direction, throwing a "'Bye! Have fun!" over his shoulder.
Seto stared after him, gritting his teeth, and then turned to Serenity.
"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked.
"Whatever," he replied. "Come on." He turned around and walked away, not looking behind to see if she was coming.
After a moment's hesitation, he heard her footsteps follow after him.
Mokuba paced his room restlessly, wondering how things were going with Seto and Serenity. He had, of course, been lying through his teeth when he had told them about his "project." It had all been part of his plan: get Seto alone with Serenity and see how things went from there. If his brother couldn't handle it himself, he supposed he would have to step in again, but for now all he could do was wait.
He sighed, pulling a piece of pizza from the box on his bed. He had been looking forward to spending some time with Seto that evening. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make, however. There would be many more times where the two of them could get dinner together (he'd make sure of it!), but how many chances would he get to hook his brother up with a girl?
"What's taking so long?" the raven-haired child muttered, looking out the window for the hundredth time. "It's been an hour and a half, why isn't he back yet?" He supposed it was a good sign; they must be enjoying themselves if they hadn't hurried to get it over with.
His hopes were finally rewarded when saw two figures walking up the long drive to the Kaiba mansion. He smiled. Seto was home!
"Wait…" he murmured. Two figures? "Is that…?"
Without waiting to see more, he dashed out of his room and down to the front entrance hall, where Seto and Serenity were just coming through the door.
He brought her back with him! Mokuba thought ecstatically. That means things must have gone well!
"Hey, guys!" he greeted.
"Hello, Mokuba," Serenity returned his greeting
"Did you have dinner yet, Mokuba?" Seto asked.
"Yeah, I ordered pizza. So… Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah, we had fun!" Serenity smiled. "How's your project going?"
"Project?" he asked in confusion. Seeing Seto smirk, he remembered. "Oh! My project! It's going great, thanks for asking!" He smiled innocently at her baffled face.
"Which reminds me, Mokuba," said Seto, "I think you and I need to have a little chat about something… Carlson!" he called out.
"Mr. Kaiba?" A goon stepped out of the shadows.
"Please escort Miss Wheeler to one of the sitting rooms."
"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." The goon stepped to Serenity, motioning her to follow him.
She looked uncertainly at the CEO. "Seto?"
"I'll be right with you, Serenity. This will just take a moment."
"...All right." She followed after Carlson, leaving the two brothers alone.
"So… What did you want to talk about, Seto?" Mokuba asked, feigning innocence.
Seto approached him, throwing a casual arm around his shoulders in mock friendliness. "This is the first time I've heard of project, little brother. Would you care to tell me about it?"
"Oh, that," said Mokuba, keeping a serious look on his face. "I like to call it 'Operation: Seto Gets the Girl.'"
"Mm-hm… I see." Seto straightened, glaring. "I should ground you for that."
"But you won't," said Mokuba with certainty.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What give you that idea?"
"Admit it; you had fun," was the smug reply.
"Why would you think that?"
"'Cause I know you too well. You wouldn't have brought her home if you weren't enjoying yourself."
"…"
"Did you tell her yet?"
"Tell her what?"
"How you feel?"
"No!"
"Well what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?"
"I…" He scowled.
"Actually, Seto, I'm impressed. A few hours ago, you could barely talk in her presence; now you've invited her home? I knew my plan was ingenious, but this is even better than I could have hoped. All you have to do now is tell her…"
"…Don't you have homework to go do?"
Mokuba smirked. "Sure thing, big brother."
"C'mon, Seto, just kiss her already," Mokuba growled, adjusting the focus on his binoculars. He had snuck into the room a few doors down from where Seto and Serenity were talking on a balcony, and was now craning out of the window, observing them.
He raised a slice of pizza to his mouth, not taking his eyes off of the two teenagers. He couldn't understand why his brother didn't just say something; it was the obvious thing to do. Mokuba was positive that Serenity felt the same way; he had noticed her continual blushing around the young CEO. Then again, he didn't know her very well. He supposed it was possible that she just blushed a lot – but that couldn't be terribly healthy…
"That's it…" he murmured, watching the two draw closer together as if drawn by some inescapable magnet – not that either looked like they wanted to escape. "That's it…"
Finally, he smirked. "Bingo. Go Seto." He drew away from the window, deciding to leave them to their privacy. Hanging his binoculars around his neck, he finished the last of his pizza, smiling in satisfaction. "Operation: Seto Gets the Girl. Mission status: complete. Well done, Mokuba. Well done."
END
A/N: Once again, thanks for sticking with me 'til the end! Dispite what I keep telling myself, I had a lot of fun writing this story. I think you can count of some more of this type from me, though I don't know when exactly. Maybe a sequel? And definitely some other stuff. (nod)
Oh, before I forget, I have some shameless advertising to do. If any of you have a LiveJournal, might I request that you check community that I just started a few days ago? It's devoted to Seto and Mokuba, my two ultimate favorite Yu Gi Oh! characters. If you love the Kaiba brothers, then you should take a look. We have contests, challenges, fanfiction, fanart, discussions... You name it! There's a link from my profile, if you're interested!
Review?