The first installement of this one-shot series, the whole thing is basically taking characters from different shows and books and putting them into a situation where they have to choose what to do. The question is...What would you do?
Standard Disclaimers Apply
What Would You Do?
Staring down at the letter in front of him, Seto Kaiba's brain instantly kicked into action. His little brother had been kidnapped, again. Only, this time there was no suave way to pull him out of the situation and have it end up perfect for him. He heaved a long sigh and carefully re-read the note.
Dear Mr. Kaiba
As you may already have noticed, your brother is no longer with you. We have taken him to assure your cooperation. There are a few things we'd like in exchange for your brother. They are: 50,000 in cash and your life. Not too much to ask for the life of your precious bother. Bring the money with you. We will give you the address to meet us at, exactly ½ an hour before we are to meet. It will be text-messaged to your cell phone. Go to the police and he will die now. Try to thwart us and he dies. We know how you like to play and we are willing to follow your rules. Just be reassured that if you break our two stipulations or refuse to pay up Mokuba shall die. Not a pleasant death mind you, but a painful, slow death and his remains shall be posted somewhere for you to find.
And if you doubt us, a picture is enclosed.
Shifting the note aside, Seto held up the picture of his baby brother. His wide grey eyes were brimming over with tears and his hair had been shorn short. In front of him was today's newspaper. For about two hours, Seto had scrutinized the picture trying to pick up any clue as to who had taken it, where it had been taken or where it had been developed. There was nothing to be found and no one had voiced any complaints against him of late and he hadn't fired or had anyone fired. No companies had been bought out in the past year and the only one that had been bought out, the man had practically begged for Kaiba to do so. All the workers had been kept, none had been laid off and their wages had increased, not decreased.
The note was typed and there was no way to figure out where it had come from or who had delivered it. It had been dropped off at the main lobby's receptionist's desk by a kid who had disappeared and they had been unable to track down. Then it had almost been thrown out by his secretary, because she had thought it was junk mail. Tapping the letter lightly Kaiba looked over at his cell phone. It sat there, looking completely harmless, but Seto knew different.
No police. No trying to "thwart them." 50,000 in cash, it didn't even specify whether they wanted yen, dollars, euros or anything else, just 50,000.
With a few clicks on his computer, Kaiba withdrew 50,000 from his personal bank account and arranged to pick it up. Next he pulled out a piece of paper and in his flowing script carefully wrote out his Will.
If this is being read, I really am dead. No one shall have my empire but my dear brother. I bequeath everything I own to my brother. My company, our house, my personal belongings, and all my life's work. Though you are still young I trust you will be able to handle it when you are old enough, so until then you can leave the company to be run by the people in charge now. You may take over whenever you see fit, not a second before. If at any point in time you feel you do not want anything you are free to sell or give away any and everything.
I set aside an account for you a while ago in case anything like this should arise. There is enough there to see to your needs until the time that you die at a ripe old age.
I know that my original Will, which I left at our lawyer's office, seems much more practical, but the situation I find myself in screams betrayal. I do not wish for a traitor to inherit from me. I was going to have you sent to a person I knew was not motivated by greed when I died, but in hindsight, I think that you would not like them. Instead I shall ask around your group of friends to see who will take you in and be your guardian. At the bottom of this page I shall write their name.
Seto Kaiba
Witnesses:
He was going to have to get two people to sign his Will and a person to watch over Mokuba. Shuffling the note, picture, Will and a few other sheets of blank paper, into a pile Kaiba signed off his computer and left the office. Quietly he informed his secretary that he would be out for the rest of the day and stepped onto the elevator. In his pocket, his cell phone sat, burning a hole in him like a hot ember. On the bottom floor he stepped off and headed to his house.
X-X-X-X-X
Standing in the front hall of his home, Seto looked around and let the memories sink in. Mokuba sliding down the banister to the main stairs. Dancing around the kitchen in their socks. The many meals they've shared. Talking about his latest inventions. Promises made. Watching television together. Playing board games.
A choked sob forced its way out and Seto slid to the floor. He was going to miss the most crucial parts in Mokuba's life. He wasn't going to be there to see him married. He was never going to be able to have Mokuba be his best man at his wedding. He would not be able to see him graduate from college or even high school. All the things he would be missing flashed before his burning eyes.
"Oh, Mokie," he whispered brokenly. "I don't want to leave you." There on the cold tile floor, Seto Kaiba, wept for all that he had lost and all that he would lose. He cried for all the times he had not been there for Mokuba and for all the times he had suffered to protect him. There was no question as to whether or no he would die for his brother; it just hurt to think about it. He still had so much to live for, but Mokuba had more.
There was no way he could condemn a child to death. It was inconceivable. His brother had yet to graduate from school. He'd never been kissed. He had more friends than Kaiba. He would be much more successful. He had yet to fall in love.
After a long and draining cry, the brunette hauled himself off the floor and made his way to his room. He didn't allow himself to pause at his brother's room, he refused to enter it and touch all of the younger one's favorite things. In his own room he changed into a set of more comfortable clothes (jeans, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt) and made a small pile of all the things he wanted to make sure Mokuba got. The Duel Monster cards Mokuba had drawn him when they were younger. The handcrafted picture frame with a goofy picture of the two of them in it. His favorite trench coat. His journals. A list of all his passwords in their special code. Their mother's wedding band and engagement ring.
Sitting down at his desk where his laptop sat, Kaiba slowly composed another letter to his brother. Only this one wasn't a formality, this was what was in his heart.
Dear Mokie,
I don't know how to explain this to you. I was given the chance to save you from monsters that would kill you to get to me. I just wanted you to know that I love you so very much. Whenever I close my eyes to picture a happy moment in my life, you are always in it, if not the cause of it. I know that I wasn't the best brother you could ever have, but I hope to God that you know I loved you. Everything I have done and I will do, I have done for you. I don't think you understand how much you mean to me, you are my life. Without you I could not live. You are so much stronger than I am. I know that you will live on and have a beautiful life, something that would not be possible for me. There are so many things I wish to say to you, but I don't know how to say them. In my head I see everything I have done wrong that I wish to right. In my ears I hear every bad thing I have said to you. In my heart I regret not giving you hundreds of more hugs and telling you how much I love you. My throat aches with the tears that I am trying to hold back.
Keep me in your heart, but do not let me hold you back. Remember me, but do not ignore the future. I wish you the greatest of luck in your life and I long with my whole to be able to be with you the whole way, but that is not possible. Chin up and be true to yourself.
Seto
Carefully he folded the letter, tears streaking down his cheeks as he lit a candle that he had nearby. With Mokuba's face in his mind he dripped wax on it and pressed the family seal into it. Mokuba had always wanted to have a letter sent to him with a wax seal on it. Neatly Kaiba wrote his brother's name across the front and added the letter to his pile of important papers. From the depths of his desk he withdrew a folder and placed all the papers in it.
Exiting the house by way of the garage, Kaiba stopped only once to pick up a backpack, Mokuba's old favorite stuffed animal (which he never used any more), a small box and a picture of the two of them. In the garage he placed everything in the pack and selected one of his motorcycles to drive to the bank to pick up the money he had withdrawn.
Once he had checked that off his list of important things to do before he died, Kaiba headed off to the Moto's. Though his mind rebelled at the thought of having to ask any of them for his help, his heart told him that Mokuba would like it. As buildings flashed by and he drew closer to his destination, his heart sank down to his feet.
What if Solomon said no? He outright refused? The old man hated Kaiba with a passion, but that had never stopped him from liking Mokuba, but what if it stopped him from listening to Kaiba? Nervous energy flowed through him making his heart beat faster and bile rise in his throat. It was so different from when he went to duel someone, because at those times he was sure of his victory, but now, he wasn't.
All too soon he found himself standing in front of the Moto's door and he wasn't sure he would be able to proceed. Staring at the door in front of him, all the things he had done to this family crashed down upon him and he trembled. The bag upon his back, which weighed near to nothing to him now, seemed filled with hundreds of stones. Swallowing hard, he lifted up his hand and opened the door.
"What do you want?" Obviously the old man had seen him standing outside before he had entered and was ready to rip his head off. For a second, Kaiba closed his eyes and the image of Mokuba sobbing for him, far away from anything familiar entered his mind. He could not have that. No matter what.
"Mr. Moto, I am here for my brother and not me," Kaiba spoke and was quite startled that his voice was as steady as usual with no hint of the turmoil he was in.
"Well?" Solomon raised an eyebrow and Seto approached him with more confidence in his stride than in his soul.
"Early last week, Mokuba's aunt died," Kaiba started off smoothly with this lie. It was nothing compared to others he had uttered. "She was to be his guardian should anything ever happen to me. When I realized this I went to thinking of someone who Mokuba would enjoy living with and someone fairly responsible."
"Yeah?" Solomon glowered at Kaiba not allowing his guard to go down.
"I came upon the notion that since you are grandfather to Mokuba's best friend, maybe you wouldn't mind to just have it down as you being his guardian. Now this is only if something happens to me, it doesn't mean you have any other special privileges while I live." Seto silently commanded his heart to stop beating so loudly, but of course it refused to listen.
"You want me to be Mokuba's legal guardian after you?" Mr. Moto gave Kaiba a strange look as he tried not to vomit. "Don't you have any family for that?"
"Not really, not anyone that Mokuba is close to and if I suddenly fell victim to vehicular manslaughter, I wouldn't want him living with someone he barely knew. It's not a very nice thing when one is mourning." Kaiba crossed his fingers tightly out of sight from Yugi's grandfather.
"What do I have to sign then?" Mr. Moto demanded and Seto breathed an unseen sigh of relief as he pulled out a piece of paper. Quickly he wrote out an agreement that Solomon was to be Mokuba's guardian should anything happen to him. Then they both signed it and Mr. Moto called Yugi and Ryou (who was there for the night) to come and sign it as witnesses.
Once outside, Kaiba wrote Solomon Moto on the bottom of his Will and drove off to find two people to sign it. He had a vague notion of who he wanted to sign it, but he didn't know if he would be able to find them in time. As buildings flashed by him, he was aware that time was ticking by and that at any moment they could call him. Pulling up in front of the bustling mall, Seto yanked off his helmet and wandered inside. Hundreds of people surrounded him and he searched for the right two to sign his Will.
At a table in the food court he spotted a fellow student of his who was gazing off into the distance, her text book abandoned on the table in front of her. She was in all of his advanced class and liked to make jokes about how much smarter he was than her, but someday she would beat him. She had long brown hair that she usually kept pulled back in a heavy braid and a pair of wire-rim glasses was perched on the bridge of her nose.
"Hey, Hibiya," he called as he came upon her table.
"Yes Kaiba?" She hooked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear as she smiled up at him.
"I need you to sign something for me." He sat down across from her and Hibiya gave him a strange look.
"What do you need me to sign? A petition?" She reached out and took the sheet of paper from him a curious look on her face. In a smooth motion she pushed her glasses up on top of her head and focused on the paper. A furrow appeared in between her eyebrows, before they shot up in shock and her eyes widened.
"Did you write this of your own accord?" Hibiya looked up at him and he was struck by how different she looked without her glasses. Her whole face was so much more open and the pale green of her eyes was more noticeable.
"Yes," Seto replied and watched as Hibiya extracted a pen from her bag. Without hesitation she signed the bottom of the paper and in parenthesis next to her name she printed her phone number.
"In case anyone wants to make sure it's authentic," she explained. "I'm not going to ask you if something is wrong, because obviously something is, if you're asking me to sign your Will. I just want you to know that if you need anything at all, there's my number and all it takes is one call."
"Thanks Hibiya," Kaiba said standing up, not really considering ever calling her.
"No problem, Kaiba," she replied and something flickered in her eyes, but before he could identify it, it was gone. "Be safe."
"Hey! Money Bags!" Joey ran up to him and bent over double to catch his breath. "Wh-where's Mokuba? He was 'spose to come over to Yugi's for movie night!" Kaiba's heart contracted in his chest and he swallowed hard.
"He's out for the night," Seto lied without batting an eye. "Something came up." In his pocket his cell phone vibrated. Blood drained from the young man's face as he slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. Flipping open the phone Kaiba looked down and read the address on the phone.
"Are you alright?" Hibiya had shoved herself to her feet and stood in front of him a concerned look on her face.
"Do either of you have a car?" Kaiba choked out.
"I came in my truck, why?" Joey asked as Hibiya shook her head.
"I need a favor Joey." Kaiba swallowed his pride and held out the Will and pen. "Could you sign this and then drive me somewhere?"
"Why?" Joey took the document and skimmed the contents, his eyes going wide.
"It has to do with Mokuba." Kaiba watched as Joey scrawled his name and number underneath Hibiya's. "He's in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Joey demanded.
"I don't have time! I need you to drive me to this location!" Kaiba showed him the address. "I have a half an hour to get there before something very bad happens."
"I'm coming too," Hibiya told them.
"Fine!" Kaiba turned to Joey who was already hurrying away to the closest exit to his truck. The three of them piled into its beat up cab and the only one out of three of them that buckled up was Hibiya. In silence they rode for the first few miles.
"You're going to die, aren't you?" Hibiya suddenly destroyed the taut quiet.
"Why would you think that?" Kaiba muttered looking out the window as Joey skidded around a corner. It was pitch black out and the night air that made its way in through the crack in the passenger side window was cold.
"You have us sign your Will, Mokuba's in trouble and you're asking Joey Wheeler for help. I was under the impression you didn't like him that much." Hibiya didn't look at him, but kept her gaze directed straight out the windshield. "It all adds up to death."
"Holy shit," Joey breathed. "Why haven't you called the police?"
"They'll kill him." Kaiba responded emotionlessly and next to him Hibiya closed her eyes and two tears slid down her cheeks.
"He's lucky to have such a wonderful brother," she whispered. "None of my family would do that for me. You are truly amazing…"
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are," Hibiya disagreed softly. "You always think about your brother first. You love him with your whole heart. Nothing could make you abandon him. You're a loyal person." Cautiously she reached out and laid one of her hands over Kaiba's clenched fists. He tensed up slightly, but made no move to push her away.
Neither of them looked at each other, but it was a scene to behold. A sixteen year old who barely had his permit, racing through the streets of Domino so he could save a dear friend. Next to him sat a girl with tears streaming down her face, her hand resting on the brunette's beside her as she makes no sound. And sitting stiffly at the end, a teenager who grew up long before he should have, trying desperately to cut himself off from his emotions so he can do the right thing. Streetlights flashed by cutting beams of orangish colored light across their profiles.
Joey made another hard right and the ancient seatbelt that had been straining for a while to keep Hibiya in snapped. With a startled squeak she fell into Kaiba and nearly through the windshield as Joey slammed on the brakes. The only thing that saved her was that Seto latched onto her and braced his foot on the dashboard. It was then he noticed that Hibiya was trembling hard and was crying.
"Here we are, half-way between dock 5 and 6," Joey told them.
"Good." Kaiba gently set Hibiya back into her seat and reached down to pick up the backpack. "There is one more favor I have to ask of you."
"What?" Joey asked and there was no suspicion in his tone, he knew that Kaiba wasn't trying to fool him or anything.
"I need you to take Mokuba to Yugi Moto's." Seto rifled around in the bag until he located what he wanted. Carefully he pulled out the stuffed animal, the box, folder and picture. "You have to give these to Mokuba." He set the animal and the folder on the dash. "And I need you to use this to protect him." From the box he pulled out a semi-automatic handgun.
"Hell…" Joey trailed off and Hibiya paled even more.
"I can't trust them to not shoot Mokuba once they have me," Seto explained. "You have to stand out there and have the gun ready to shoot anyone of them that even so much as looks at him wrong." Quickly he checked his watch and slipped the picture into his back jeans pocket. "I have to go; they'll be here in a few minutes."
"Wait!" Hibiya grabbed him. "I know you have to do this, I'm not trying to stop you…it's just…I can't…" With a choked sob she reached out and touched his face with her fingertips, before she kissed him. Their lips met and for the first time in his life, Seto Kaiba was kissed. It was a second before his eyes slid shut, but as they slowly closed he took in her tear-streaked face and dark eyelashes with tears still clinging to them. She tasted of salt and the mints that she had often offered him in class. Carefully he lifted his own hand to cradle her head close and feel her thick hair.
A few moments later they parted and Hibiya placed her hand on his chest, right over his heart.
"K-kai--" she started, but was cut off by him placing his finger over her lips.
"It's Seto," he said softly. He couldn't believe he had never realized she liked him. He was in shock that she had kissed him. Part of him felt better knowing that he wasn't going into the other life without knowing love.
"Naoko," she whispered.
"Good-bye Naoko," Kaiba murmured. "Good-bye Joey."
"Farewell Seto," Naoko said.
"Bye Kaiba."
"Same goes to you, I might not have always liked you, but you helped me when I thought no one would. My friends call me Seto." With that he slid from the cab of the truck onto the pavement, carefully Naoko did the same as Joey exited out the other side. In silence Seto made his way to the light directly in front of dock 6, while Naoko and Joey waited a few paces away from the truck.
Alone he stood there, but for once in his life, Kaiba didn't feel alone. He had people standing behind him. Slowly from the shadows appeared four men, two were armed; one held Mokuba and the other was most obviously the head man.
Staring at his brother, Seto tried to not explode right there and try to hurt them. A bruise the size of a man's fist stood out in sharp relief on the child's face. He was blindfolded and his hair stood out at odd angles. He was shivering and if he didn't have a gag in his mouth, Seto was sure his teeth would be chattering. Behind him, his arms were being held by the thug and it was easy to see that it wasn't gently due to how much he was shifting.
"Who are those two?" The leader demanded as he flicked his cigarette onto the pavement and put it out with his boot.
"They are here to escort my brother home," Seto told them. "You didn't think I would just show and not have someone to take him away from you." Mokuba cried out upon hearing his older brother's voice.
"They will do nothing?" The man cocked an eyebrow. "It just doesn't seem like you."
"The only thing I'm concerned with is that my brother is left safe and sound." Seto refused to look at his brother until he had convinced the man that Naoko and Joey would do nothing to him. "For him to be safe he has to have a ride home and I'm sorry to say, I really don't trust you to do that."
"Fine, just as long as they do nothing." The man seemed rather nervous for someone in control of the situation, Kaiba noted.
"That's what they've been instructed to do, nothing, except protect my brother and take him home." Seto felt rather than saw the leader give in.
"Alright then, do you have the money?" He demanded and Seto slowly bent over and picked up the bag, making sure they knew he wasn't doing anything to harm them. Carefully he handed it over and watched them cautiously open the top and rifled through the stacks of bills. Once satisfied that they were real and that there as enough of them, the signal was given and Mokuba was shoved forward and into Seto's arms. With tears in his eyes, Kaiba knelt down and untied the gag and blindfold.
"Big brother!" Mokuba exclaimed as he launched himself into the brunette's arms. "I knew that you'd come!" The two of them clung to each other as one sobbed hysterically and the other silently shed his tears.
"Mokie, you have to go, I still have business with these guys," Seto whispered hoarsely. "Joey and Naoko are waiting for you near the truck; they won't let anything happen to you."
"Please just come with me Seto! Don't stay!" Mokuba wailed clutching his brother closer.
"You have to go Mokuba, and you have to promise me that you won't look back, never look back!" Kaiba told him. "I love you, now go." With one last long hard hug, a kiss to the forehead and a ruffle of his younger brother's head, Seto sent him on his way.
"I promise Seto," Mokuba promised as he stumbled away from his brother and toward the two shadowy figures. Soon he was running to them and away from his brother, for deep in his heart he knew that he would never see him alive again and it was too much to bear.
"I'm ready," Seto told them.
"Joey!" Mokuba yelled.
"We'll make it quick, don't worry." The leader sneered at him as he took a gun out of his pocket.
"Don't look!" Naoko grabbed Mokuba and hid his face in her shoulder as her eyes remained locked on the guy she had loved for so long.
A single shot rang out and the two teenagers watched in horror as Kaiba's body crumpled to the ground.
Mokuba screamed.
Joey dropped the gun and covered his eyes.
Naoko stood there unable to rip her eyes away from the scene.
"We have to get out of here!" Joey snapped to his senses and ushered the other two into the truck cab.
"S-seto," Naoko whispered faintly before she hauled the still screaming and sobbing Mokuba into the vehicle.
"Take the gun," Joey ordered, thrusting the handgun he had barely remembered to pick up into her hand. Then he started the engine and roared away from the docks.
When they were a while away and Mokuba had stopped screaming, Joey pulled aside and looked at Naoko. She was leaning heavily against the door, holding Mokuba close to her with the arm that held the gun and stroked his hair with her other hand. She was whiter than fresh snow and her pale green eyes were glazed in shock and her chest was heaving.
"Where do we go?" Joey asked hesitantly.
"Hospital," she replied in a hushed and unsteady tone. "Mokuba, what if he's hurt?"
"Right."
Three months later
Mokuba was sitting at his brother's laptop and was listlessly going through his files, ignoring the tears tracking down his cheeks. The three of them had all given their statements, but there was no way to find the kidnapper/murders, they had no leads or anything. A week ago, Kaiba's body had been found, but it had been stripped bare and there was no evidence what-so-ever on him.
Clicking open his brother's e-mail, something, which he had avoided. The first hundred or so were all business related because it had taken them a while for the workers to understand he was dead and gone. As he skimmed through the names of the senders he came across one that sent him reeling. It was an e-mail that had been sent by Kaiba to himself the night of the murder.
Figuring it was another note to him; Mokuba opened it up with trepidation and was surprised when a photo popped up. It was a crystal clear photo of the four criminals from a lower perspective. It was perfect. Mokuba's breath caught in his throat before he began to laugh. He threw his head back and laughed long and loud for the first time in three months.
Kaiba had had the last word after all.
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