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'Tis the Season – Chapter 6 (of 7)Ten minutes. Ten fucking minutes.
When Seto arrived at the Police Station in question, he'd missed Mokuba by ten minutes. The investigator had called while Seto was still in the air to tell him that the family member would be there that afternoon instead of the next morning. Seto authorized the investigator to do whatever he could to delay the release process until he could get there. The man did his best and Seto would have made it if not for that speed trap off the freeway. The two cops working the trap pulled him and nine others over. Unfortunately, Seto was car number nine and a rental, so he lost 30 valuable minutes.
Rushing into the station, the investigator greeted him with a shake of his head. Seto's face fell. Then came the knockout punch when the investigator handed him a picture of the detainee. Long black hair pulled into a ponytail and bright green-grey eyes. There was even a family resemblance. Seto lost it, throwing his head back and screaming in frustration. Fifteen years. Fifteen years he'd been searching and to miss him by ten minutes…
Staggering out of the police station, he refuses the investigator's help as he makes his way to the rental car. Grasping the wheel tightly, his breath comes in short gasps as he forces himself to calm down.
He really needs Yami, but he can't ask his koi to leave his family and friends on Christmas. This is his personal quest, and ultimately, he must make it alone. After pressing his head against the steering wheel for ten minutes, he's finally forced himself calm. He motions to the investigator nearby and instructs him to find out exactly where the 17-year-old is being sent and all pertinent information on the adoptive family. At his affirmative nod, Seto promises to contact him from a hotel in 24 hours. Pulling away from the station with a much calmer head, he goes to find a place to stay for the night.
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"Koshi, I'm so sorry," Yami soothes. "Do you need me to come there?"
Yes! His mind screams.
"No, stay with your family and friends," he replies.
"Are you sure?"
"I won't be here that long anyway."
"You're coming home?"
"No. I'm going to Germany."
A pause.
"How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know."
"What about work?"
"I spoke to Mr. Kaiba this morning. He told me to take as much time as I needed."
A longer pause.
"Koshi, please keep in touch."
"I will."
He's just going for a few days, maybe a few weeks. Why does it feel like he's saying good-bye?
"Yami?"
"Hmm."
"You know I'd be there with you if I could."
"Yes."
A long, uncomfortable silence settles between them.
"Koi, you know I'll be back, right," Seto calls into the phone desperately.
A slight pause.
"I know, Koshi."
"Gods, Yami, please don't sound like that. I couldn't bear to lose you," he confesses.
"Koshi, calm down. I'm not going anywhere."
"Okay. Well, I'm going to go now. I need to get some rest if I'm flying to Germany tomorrow."
"Be careful, Koshi."
"Always. I'll see you soon. I promise."
"See you soon. Bye."
"Bye."
He hangs up the phone and lays down on the bed, worrying about things between him and Yami and what was in that gift box.
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Heinrich. Heinrich von Schroeder.
How the hell could they look at Mokuba and see a 'Heinrich'? Wilhelm he could see. Or even Johann, but 'Heinrich'? Blech!
He'd been sitting outside the office of Mokuba's guardian, Siegfried von Schroeder for more than two hours. He'd had a ten o'clock appointment, which had to be pushed back to 10:30 and then to 11:30. Now, at 12:15 he waited to be 'fit in' to von Schroeder's schedule.
Siegfried von Schroeder, the 27 year-old CEO of Schroeder Corporation, had become Mokuba's legal guardian two years ago upon the death of his parents, Ludwig and Helena von Schroeder in a car accident. The CEO also had guardianship of his biological little brother Leon, three years Mokuba's junior.
The secretary had tried to get him to come back later, but he'd already been bumped four times in the last two weeks. He won't be put off any longer. He just wanted to see his little brother. How difficult could it be to have that happen?
1:20 pm. Another hour and he would break that asshole's door down. Who did he think he was? Mokuba is his brother! He's been trying to find him for too long to give up now. He won't allow anyone to keep them apart ever again.
The sounds of voices coming down the hall pull him from murderous thoughts and he turns toward them. It's von Schroeder and…and Mokuba. He stands slowly, staring unbelievably at the brother he's missed for so long.
The black-haired teen stands close to Seto's own height of 6'3", green-gray eyes fiery as he gestures and grumbles to the man beside him. Seto clamps down on the bark of laughter threatening to burst forth when he reads the teen's shirt.
'It must have been my evil twin,' it screams in bold, black letters on his over-sized white tee.
"Oh! Mr. Funakoshi," von Schroeder exclaims in Japanese with a heavy German accent when he notices Seto. "I apologize for not being able to meet with you earlier, but I had to get my brother out of a bit of trouble. Again." He emphasizes, eying Mokuba significantly.
"Whatever, Seig," Mokuba snorts in German.
"Please speak Japanese for our guest, Heinrich!"
"No." He turns to Seto with a sneer. "Why should I? He is no one to me. Why should I suck up to your business partners?"
Seto smirks to himself. Mokuba is so like him at that age. Arrogant. Headstrong. Defiant. He's probably smarter than everyone in his school, too.
"What are you smirking at, idiot," Mokuba snarls, still speaking in German.
"Just noting similarities," Seto replies flawlessly.
"So you speak our language, Mr. Funakoshi," von Schroeder exclaims in German. "How convenient."
Mokuba frowns, realizing the stranger understood every derogatory comment, but wasn't fazed by them. Who is this guy? He's certainly not one of his brother's business partners. They'd all be peeing themselves by now trying to make Seig believe they didn't mind the insults so he wouldn't think them weak.
"Let's speak in my office then, Mr. Funakoshi," von Schroeder continues, opening the doors to his suite. "Heinrich, I will see you at home later."
"Whatever, Seig," Mokuba mumbles, heading back down the hall.
Seto watches Mokuba for a few moments before following the CEO.
Closing the doors behind him, Seto takes the offered chair in front of von Schroeder's desk.
"Now, how may I help you, Mr. Funakoshi?" von Schroeder questions amiably.
Silently, Seto pulls the identification papers from his briefcase and spreads them out on the desk.
"What…" von Schroeder begins until he sees two Birth Certificates in the papers that lay before him. Reading the names silently, he goes through the rest of the paperwork. There are affidavits from counselors at the orphanage, copies of the Japanese adoption papers for Mokuba signed by the von Schroeders, copies of the official German records of changing Mokuba Funakoshi's name to Heinrich von Schroeder and even DNA results from Japan, America and recently Germany showing the familial connection between Seto and Mokuba.
At von Schroeder's stunned look, Seto frowns.
"You didn't know." It isn't a question.
"I did, but he doesn't. And I had no idea that…we were told Heinrich had no family."
Seto growls low in his throat at the blatant lie.
"We?" He forces, calming himself. It would do no good to lose his temper now. Not this close to being with his beloved little brother again.
"My parents and I. The director at the orphanage said Heinrich's family had been killed in a terrible fire and he had no known living relatives."
Seto jumps up and paces away from the CEO, blind rage churning in his veins. That bitch! That vicious, mean-spirited bitch! Running his fingers through his hair and pulling a little to settle himself, he vows revenge on the one person who made his life a living hell from the age of 8 until he ran away at 15. To have told those people that lie when Seto was just down the street at the elementary school…He knew she hated him because he was smarter than her and her spoiled son, but to do something this calculated and mean…
"Mr. von Schroeder," Seto begins, anger barely in check, "Mokuba is very important to me. I've been searching for him for more than fifteen years. He needs to know that he's adopted and that I'm his brother."
"No," von Schroeder mutters, head down.
"Excuse me," Seto bristles. "What do you mean. 'No'?"
He looks up at Seto, eyes pleading.
"You don't understand. Heinrich has been very disturbed since our parents died. He loved them very much. I hate to say it, but they were closer to him than they were to my brother and me! He's been very depressed and has had many run-ins with the authorities. He gets therapy and is on medication, which helps some, but it's still been an uphill battle. A month ago he ran away and we nearly lost our minds until we found him in a holding cell in Okinawa, Japan on Christmas Eve. This is a very difficult time of year for him. Our parents died on their way home from my aunt's house two days after Christmas. Mokuba was with them, but was thrown from the car. We don't know how long he lay in the snow with a broken back watching them burn."
Gods! Mokuba!
von Schroeder lowers his head again.
"I won't have him traumatized further by telling him they weren't even his real parents."
"But he's my brother!" Seto yells.
The CEO looks up slowly, eyes and face uncompromising.
"And at the moment, I am his guardian. My word is final."
"You can't keep him from me!" Seto growls.
"I can and I will if I think it in his best interest."
"Who are you to say what's in his best interest!"
"I'm the only older brother he remembers," von Schroeder states evenly.
Seto turns away, beside himself with grief and anger. He knows von Schroeder is right. If Mokuba is already traumatized, telling him about being adopted could send him further over the edge. But what could he do? He can't just walk away!
"I have a proposal, Mr. Funakoshi," von Schroeder begins, interrupting Seto's thoughts.
Seto turns to him, heart in his throat.
"What?"
"Once Heinrich turns 18 next July, I will no longer be his guardian. At that time, I will leave it up to you to break the news of your relation to him or not, at your discretion."
"And in the meantime?"
"In the meantime, you could…'join'… our family as a long-lost cousin from my father's side and spend time getting to know him as a 17 year-old and not as the two-year-old you remember. Perhaps being around someone not as close to the tragedy of our parents will allow him to open up and to heal."
Seto's silent. There's really no choice. Mokuba has always been the most important thing in his life. Yami knows that. His boss knows that. Even his employees know that.
"What about a job? I couldn't very well hang around without a purpose."
"You could work with me. What do you do now? I'll match your salary."
Seto smirks.
"I doubt it. I'm the Director of Development for Kaiba Corp. I also sit on the board and have stock options."
A wide grin splits von Schroeder's face.
"Excellent!" He exclaims. "Kaiba Corp. is a world technology leader! If you can do for me half of what you've done for them, we'll completely corner the gaming market! Not only will I match your salary, I'll double it! And as the sole shareholder for Schroeder Corporation, I offer you twenty percent of the stock if you can start tomorrow!"
"I can," he replies soberly, "but only if I can spend some time with Mokuba tonight."
"Of course!" He scribbles an address on a piece of paper and hands it to Seto, beaming.
"Dinner is at 7pm. I expect to see you at the house with your things as you will be moving in tonight."