A/N: As most of you know, this is the part of the chapter where I usually spew out some random B.S. and reply to each of my reviewer's reviews. I'm not doing it this time, and I'll explain why at the end of the chapter. (don't worry, It's not because of what anybody's said or anything.) I just want to say I appreciate every review, from thesometimes morbid rantings of Linkin-Phoenix (no disrespect, I find your reviews hilarious!)to the simple good job's from an anonymous reviewer. Thank you all, and enjoy the chapter.
Test of Friendship:
Chapter 17
It was nearly dawn. Mokuba could hear birds chirping outside as his eyes opened up to another day. He didn't appear in his home, as the room he was sleeping in was decorated almost exclusively in lavender. As he jumped out of the bed, he realized he was still in his blue and white pajamas. He opened the double-sided door and saw a familiar place laying on the couch. She was wearing a pair of pink silk pajama pants with a matching top.
"Mai?"
She looked over the paper and smiled. "Glad to see you're awake, Mokuba. Now we can talk about what the heck happened last night."
Mokuba laughed nervously before he spoke again. "Um, nothing happened. Really! Miss Mai, how did you find me anyway?"
"I found you in the park, after talking with your big brother of course. Instead of turning you over to him, I decided to bring you here for a while so we could work things out. Don't worry, kid, you were probably too tired to remember anyway. I bet you're hungry...would you like some pancakes?"
Mokuba smiled. "Sure...got blueberries?"
Kaiba's black limo returned to his mansion empty-handed. Kaiba, eyes drained and tired, was on the verge of falling asleep when his driver informed him of an intruder.
"Sir..this deranged woman is standing at the front gate with a gun in her hand. Security says she's been here the bulk of the early morning hours. Shall I call the police, sir?"
Kaiba grunted. "No...I'll handle this myself."
"But, sir! She could shoot you down just like that! I strongly suggest that-"
"WHO PAYS YOUR SALARY? Now shut up and pull over."
With the vehicle now at the front gate, Kaiba opened the door and stepped out. His tired eyes looked over the woman who was standing at the gate, and his trademark smirk appeared on his face.
"Well, if it isn't Ishizu...what's the matter, the psychic hotline you were working for got shut down?"Kaiba approached her even as she aimed the gun to his head.
"Hmmm...you have some nerve, Kaiba. And if you take another step, I foresee you getting a bullet in your head."
"Heh...I have nerve? You're lucky my security personel are incompetent cowards...which reminds me, I'll fire them later this morning. What the hell do you want?"
Ishizu's face contorted into a frown. "You know what I want. I came here to-"
"Play hide and go seek with the Nerd Herd? I'm sorry but those losers aren't allowed on this premesis." Kaiba sneered at the young woman, who by now had lowered her gun.
"Kaiba..." Ishizu's face had a weary frown on it, her eyes sad and frustrated.
Kaiba strolled to the front gate and yelled such offensive language to his security that it probably should not be repeated. The gate opened slowly, and Kaiba made his way inside.
"Well...are you comming or not?"
Ishizu walked behind him, smiling.
It's good to see you haven't changed too much...maybe there's still hope.
Later that morning...
"DAMN HIM!" Tristan said as he brought his fist crashing onto the table. "I mean, what did we ever do to Kaiba? Why does he try to make our lives a living hell?"
Tea, Yugi, and Duke sat with him, unable to offer answers.
"I don't know...but I think Kaiba gets some sort of pleasure from watching us suffer, watch our friendships break apart." Tea chimed in, finishing the rest of her orange juice.
Yugi nodded his head somberly. "Then the only way I can think of to make him stop is to just keep on being friends."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah...hey...any of you guys seen Serenity today? Or Ryou? Or Joey?"
Tea shook her head. "Joey took what happened last night pretty hard, and heaven knows what happened to Serenity."
Tristan nodded. "Yeah..but Ryou's never late."
That's when Duke saw them...Ryou and Serenity, hand in hand.
"What the hell?"
Mokuba was sitting on Mai's large sofa, his head downcast. "I'm not sure I should tell you about it."
"Why not?" Mai was starting to get worried. Did Kaiba have some other things planned for her and her friends.
"Because...he made me promise not to tell anyone, ever."
Mai lifted the boy's chin up with a gentle hand. "Listen, Mokuba. If you don't tell me what's going on with your brother, he could continue to do terrible things to not only me and Joey, but to the rest of our friends. I'll tell you what...you tell me what happened, and I promise to try to help your brother."
Mai smiled a little, trying to lift the boy's spirits and her own. Mokuba was a little hesitant, but finally caved in.
"Alright..."
Flashback
One Year Ago,night beforethe Battle City Tournament
(A/N: Told from Mokuba's point of view)
As usual I had the whole mansion as my toy, but there was nothing to do. I had beaten all of the gamesin my very large video game collection, and I had already done the homework given to me by the live-in teacher Seto hired. I don't have too many friends, and the ones I do have are scared to death of my brother. Anyway, I decided to go up to his room to pester him into eating dinner with me. He hadn't done it in a week since organizing the Battle City tournament, and eating without him was as lonely as it was boring. I went up to the room and didn't hear anything. Instead of knocking I decided to sneak in, opening the door in a way that it made no noise whatsoever. I didn't see my big brother by his desk so I ventured to the other side of the room where I saw something that I'll probably never be able to erase from my mind: a girl was on top of my big brother, her top off. She kept grinding up and down and was making moaning sounds. I wasn't quite sure of what they were doing, but they sure looked like they were having a good time. I mean, I had seen something like that in a manga, but didn't even think of it to show Seto and ask exactly what it was. He probably would have freaked out anyway.Hoping that no one had noticed me, I snuck back out as quickly as I snuck in.
A few days later, after the end of Battle City
After I finished beating a friend of mine online at a new strategy game, I decided to go find my brother again. He had been acting all funny after that night I found him in bed with that girl (that still grosses me out). I guess that and the Battle City tournament took a lot out of him. He wasn't able to beat Yugi, and barely squeaked by Joey. If he had lost to Joey...I'm not sure what he would have done. He has this super-sized superiority complex and to lose to someone he calls inferior would have just made him go crazy. Anyway, I gave his office door a couple of taps, hoping he would tell me to come in. When I didn't hear anything I pulled on the knob and opened the door. Seto was sitting at his desk, but he wasn't doing any of his usual work. He was just sitting there, holding something in his hands. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I noticed that he was crying. I new something was wrong with my big brother then; I could count the number of times on one hand I had ever seen him cry.
End of flashback...for now.
Mai looked down at the young boy, confused as could be. "Mokuba...I'm not sure I understand. What happened after you found him crying?"
Mokuba took a deep breath before he started again.
Joey sat up as he looked at his digital alarm clock on the dresser. He had noticed that it was nearly three in the afternoon, so going to school was definitely not an option. He said a silent prayer hoping that Serenity was out at the moment as he headed for the shower.He did not want to confront her, at least not yet. He was still furious at what she had helped Kaiba do to him and the rest of his friends. Helping to get he and Tea intoxicated. Helping to drag her over to his apartment and let them have at it. Helping to nearly destroy the friendships that they held so dearly. Helping to nearly tear he and Mai...wait a second! Why was he so mean to Mai last night? She had tried to talk to him, to make amends, and he treated her like she was no better than the mud on the bottom of his well-worn sneakers. Joey gave his body a good quick scrubdown as he tried to figure out how in the world he would ever make this upto his girlfriend.
Well, some interesting things happened this chapter. Why is Ishizu inside the Kaiba Mansion? What exactly happened that day after Battle City with Kaiba? And what's up with Ryou and Serenity. Are they a legit couple, or will Bakura prove to be a prophet? Find out next time...
The reason I didn't respond to your reviews was the almighty poobahs of FF have asked authors not to post viewer responses in their fics. I will abide by the rule as long as it stands, but I have passed on a petition to some of you (thanks Linkin-Phoenix) to sign. I hope we shore up enough support to get rid of that stupid ass rule.
On a quick note, this fic may not be updated until after September 2nd (MY B-DAY, The big 2-0 baby!) due to the severe massivity of other fanfic projects I have going and just general life (Football season's almost here!). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and leave a review on the way out.
Forever LSU
BDB...out