Chapter Nine: Myth to Reality

My brother seems to have gotten a new wound. He won't let me look at it, but the servant who cleaned it up said it was ugly. Not only a bruise this time, but a cut as well, like some heavy, pointed object had cut into him.

It wasn't that bully. I know for a fact it hadn't been him. He's been being watched for twenty-four hours every day, and he was not even in school the day Mokuba was injured this last time.

Mokuba refuses to talk about it, and I can't figure out why. He won't even make up something about falling or being ignorant. He simply doesn't answer my questions. I can't force him to talk if he won't.

But it hurts to know he doesn't seem to trust me.

Just one and one-half weeks to go until the sleepover! That hastened Mokuba more in the morning than any thoughts of school or homework. Or maybe it was that when he awoke, he was able to fill his eyes with the pendant that he wore every day without fail; he was able to see that which filled his dreams every night. That certainly made him more excited than spending time with his high school friends. Even more excited than seeing a small, pleased smile adorning his brother's face whenever he came down the stairs in great excitement.

Kaiba's eyes did, indeed, inevitably alight on his younger brother when Mokuba came down the stairs, and there the tiniest hints of a smile teased at the edges of his stern unfazed expression. But after resting on his brother, as Mokuba turned his attention to devouring the closest food item at hand, Seto's eyes floated, as usual, down the boy's face to the necklace, the amulet that rested, as always, no matter how often Mokuba shoved it down his shirt, atop a certain card pendant.

And removing his attention from that was more difficult than setting his lips in the unusual upward arc.

With great difficulty, Kaiba tried to start some conversation or send his thoughts to the newspaper in his hand.

"Everything finished for today?"

"If it wasn't," Mokuba said with a sour face, "it'd be a little late to do anything about it."

"You don't think I could stand over you and be so intimidating that you'd finish any work in fifteen minutes? That's unfortunate…I have struggled so hard to become such an awe-inspiring figure, and if my own baby brother doesn't see it, then I must have failed somewhere."

Suppressing any laughter that wanted to escape, Mokuba kept his features utmost serious. "I suppose you did fail, then, big brother. You don't seem intimidating at all to me. Just…funny. Funny looking."

"Ha-ha," Seto said derisively, debating whether to do something so immature as fling some cereal at his brother. "Well, if you think my features are so utterly amusing, you ought to look into a mirror once. No, wait!" he added in mock horror. "You'd frighten away any atomic bonds and cause the mirror to go back to its miniscule start as individual grains of sand."

Raising his eyebrows so high they became buried in his disheveled raven hair, Mokuba let his scoffing look remain for a full minute. "Really, Seto, why don't you just use 'break' or something?"

"What fun is that?" Kaiba replied with one of his usual smirks.

"It might make your taunts easier to understand and so keep the mood light instead of stifling with me struggling to make out what you're saying."

"Oh, come on, if you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're not studying your vocabulary enough."

"I study a lot!"

Shaking his head, he focused once on the dragon that seemed to be smirking at him in utter glee, smugly resting on Mokuba's chest on top of the card locket. "Then you obviously don't have a grasp for the finer points of the language, Mokuba, because what I said was blatantly obvious."

Instantly, Kaiba could not understand why his tone had turned so sharp or his words so harsh. Almost, the action seemed out of his control, but his condescending tongue had said them. He was too ashamed and startled to instantly snatch them back from the air, which was more akin to paper that, once being smeared with dark etchings, could never be perfectly clean again or could take back what had once rested there.

Mokuba's face stared at his brother, mouth slightly agape and spoonful of cheerios letting down an awkward drip of milk once or twice. The silence emphasized the imperfect, out of tempo drops, and it was only when Mokuba shoved back his chair and stood, face hurt and trying to hide such feelings at the same that Kaiba could even move.

"Let's get to school then, so I can try to learn more," Mokuba said hurriedly, already half out the door with his bag in hand.

Kaiba quickly stood, muttering a curse to himself darkly. "Mokuba—wait!"

The door had already shut behind him, and the final sound of that was only second to the look of utter pain and shame in Mokuba's large eyes.

The limo ride to school was silent as neither could summon enough courage to speak from where the resolve had plummeted to the ground and been left back at their house. Both boys were dropped off at the classes without another sound exchanged between either of them, and as both stumbled through their day wondering why it had all gone so wrong already, they forgot completely about the approaching party.

The dragon's eyes sparkled red in its happiness.

They didn't speak to each other after school.

Mokuba was obviously still hurt, and Kaiba could not figure out how best to approach him and make amends. Was there any way to make amends? An older brother cannot just say he was sorry and expect things to go back to normal; actions were invariably more persuasive than any words, and yet, they could be faked as well.

To enter the sanctuary, the one place Mokuba could be free of him and feel protected and take away the only area where he would not feel on guard? Kaiba couldn't do that to Mokuba. And so, he stayed away from his brother, as he felt was best.

Drumming his fingers on his table, Kaiba stared at the pitifully few numbers on the screen and released a gusto sigh. His filial problems were not helping him get work done at all.

"It's my fault," he finally said aloud. "I have to be the one to apologize because I was the one who went so far." And he couldn't stand another moment of utter silence in his room. So used to Mokuba's pencil skidding across the surface of his homework and his little rearrangements of position, Kaiba could not concentrate at all. He couldn't believe that in such a quick moment, he had managed to cause such pain to his younger brother.

Rising, thinking that the common action of straightening himself seemed to take forever, Kaiba paused at his door, one hand on the doorknob.

"If I don't apologize, things will continue to be this tortuous," he said quietly. The words gave him the inspiration he needed, and the CEO of Kaiba Corporation who could criticize a competitor or employee with never the thought of an apology flitting across his mind, who wanted as many people as possible fearing him as possible—he could not stand thinking Mokuba was frightened of him or upset. Or worse: that Seto was disappointed in him.

Planning over what he thought he'd say when he arrived, Kaiba kept a steady tempo down the hall to his mental thoughts. Whenever he slowed in debate over whether such a line were truly needed or not, his pace turned to keep steady with a crawling baby. And, when he was highly determined to get it all finished and take the blame for everything, his strides were long and full.

"Mokuba, I don't know what came over me," he began muttering to himself all over again.

He paused. That line was so overused and pathetic it would not explain anything. With a sigh, Kaiba moved forward. "Mokuba, I know what I did was wrong." That sounded much better—taking responsibility was always important.

"I am only hoping you might find it somewhere within you to hear me out and let me tell you how sorry I am." Much too formal and stiff. No one said those things aloud for real. Only in books did characters spew such nonsense.

All too soon, the boy's door was before him, barred and forever closed to him. The only other times Mokuba's door had been shut had been when he was wrapping some special surprise for his brother or trying to hide away some creature he wanted as a pet. Or worse, it was a combination of the two. Needless to say, Kaiba had always known Mokuba had been up to something and knew that a closed door meant it ought to be opened. Immediately.

This time, however, the closed door just reiterated the fact that Kaiba couldn't easily slip in anymore and feel like he belonged. Being chased out as his brother had a small tantrum over Seto most likely seeing a surprise gift seemed ages ago.

And now, feeling the loss like seeing a drop of water evaporate onto the sand of an endless desert, he would have given anything to get it back.

"Well, that's what I'm here for." Kaiba gave a quick two knocks on his brother's door and instantly strained to hear any reaction.

"Whaddya want?" came a mumbled response. Almost, Kaiba could envisage Mokuba strewn belly-down on the bed, staring at the floor or the wall across from him, maybe trying to do homework in such a position.

"I want to apologize," Kaiba said softly.

To no one else would he ever humble himself with such words. And he prayed and fervently hoped he wouldn't ever have to do it to Mokuba again. That there'd be no need.

Slowly, after a long pause, feet tread over to the door and the handle spiraled in one direction. Like a game show that was about to reveal what was behind door number three, Seto stood and waited, nearly holding his breath and tightening his hands into fists.

"Mokuba," he said through a suddenly-tightening throat, constricting faster than the doors people always managed to roll or slide under in films. "May I come in?"

Silently, the boy looked up at his brother, expression carefully neutral and blank as he turned and walked back into his room without a word. But he hadn't disagreed, so Kaiba followed after the small boy, painfully aware of each footfall of his that sounded in the new-snow silence.

Giving a small sigh like none of it was worth the effort anymore, the vice-president of Kaiba Corporation sat down in a chair and mutely looked up at his brother. Even his wide, expressional eyes had been carefully schooled so no hope was in them.

Then, like the hand grasping the fruit on the forbidden tree of the Garden of Eden, Seto's cobalt eyes slid down Mokuba's face to what was—or wasn't—around his neck.

The dragon pendant caught his eye again, so innocent, as enticing as a siren song in the old myths.

Such a decoration that was so lovely and impressive didn't belong on this young boy, shouldn't adorn someone who didn't even know its power or hold a tenth of it. The image of the necklace only convinced Seto that his brother was far less than the item itself. Not as remarkable.

What a fool…acting like a grudge-holding girl. A simple slip of the tongue was all it had been. Why was he even here?

But something was worse.

His card was gone.

His card…the one with his picture in it. That stupid dragon pendant had devoured it all and taken his place.

His rage overcame him and all he saw was blackness and twin lights of sparkling red.

"Seto?" The boy's waiting voice snapped him free from his vengeful thoughts, and as Mokuba changed position, the card with his older brother's picture in it slipped from inside his shirt to cover the dragon charm for a moment, breaking Kaiba's eye contact with the form. With a shuddering deep breath, Kaiba stared at his younger brother.

I'm becoming uncontrollable…I was going to—No! Why would I? Kaiba's thoughts spun out of control as he thought about the jealousy that had just plunged through his body with so much energy and nearly a life of its own. This was as pathetic as that story about a ring people wanted and couldn't control themselves around. Kaiba wasn't as weak as those doped-up fools in the book and movies!

Eyes so wide they were more akin to Mokuba's own than his usual ones and breath still slightly ragged, his appearance caused Mokuba to jump to his feet.

"Are you all right, Seto? Is everything okay!" He grabbed his brother's hand and tried to make Kaiba sit down in the chair he had just vacated, and stumbling submissively, Seto sat. His meek docility frightened Mokuba even more than the wild look on his face.

"I—I just wanted to apologize," the tall teen said swiftly as if he were trying to race to get all the words out before he ran out of breath or lost control. "I wasn't thinking this morning, and I didn't mean what I said at all. I'm so sorry I hurt you, Mokuba."

Eyes concerned, Mokuba looked up at his brother who was determinedly avoiding his face "It's all right, Seto. I didn't think you really meant it. But I still thought it best to go to my room to study so you would have no excuse to criticize any breaks I took, just in case…" Leaving his sentence hanging, Mokuba uncomfortably shrugged and looked once more at his older brother.

Slowly, Kaiba's gaze became focused and his expression was back to its usual imposing stare. Seeing his worried brother, however, made him crack a tiny smile even while his eyes held some nameless confusion and…fear.

"I'm glad, Mokuba. And I'm not about to criticize you for how you do your homework. How could I ever criticize you?" He said it loud enough for Mokuba to hear, but from his now-standing position and thoughtful tone, Mokuba was uncertain if the question were directed at him for reassurance or if it were directed at Seto himself.

Going through the door, Kaiba tripped and vanished down the hall, and all that was missing to make him appear any blinder was a walking stick or his hands out in front of him. Pursing his brow, Mokuba chewed his lip and wondered what had happened to make his brother act so strange.