Mokuba's Plan

By Pearl of the Dark Age

Disclaimer: I… (sniffs) …do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. (sobs hysterically)

Chapter 4

"You took him to the police station," Seto slowly repeated.

"Yes," the taxi driver said. "I remember it well. He was very quiet."

Seto glared at the detective standing next to him. He was not sure who to yell at first. The three men and Isono were standing in a conference room in Kaiba Corp. The detective had brought the taxi driver that transported Mokuba two nights ago.

The detective pretended this bit of information was impersonal. "You didn't think that it was suspicious that young master Kaiba left his home in the middle of the night to go to the police?"

The driver looked uncomfortable. Shifting his weight while sticking his hands in his pockets, he muttered, "Ano, he was going to a police station. I didn't see any harm in that."

"Why don't the police have any records or recollections of this?" Seto roared at the room in general. Isono quickly answered a phone that started ringing in the awkward silence that followed.

Ignoring the outburst and the tangible tension, the seasoned detective continued to question the driver, "Did you observe him actually entering the police station?"

"Uh… yes…"

"You sound so sure," Seto said sarcastically.

"Yes, I remember him opening the door, because he had looked back at me and waved good-bye," the driver said defensively. "I waved back and left."

Seto felt his guts being dragged over red-hot coals and broken glass. He slumped into a chair and covered his face with one hand. "Get out," he said quietly. "All of you."

"We'll look into this right away," the detective said before following Isono and the driver out the door. "I'll send you what ever we find."

"Just get out…" Seto whispered coldly.

Two days later, Seto was back behind his desk in his office, typing away as he had done so the last Thursday. Bright summer sun streamed in through the wall-to-wall Venetian blinds behind him, casting alternating vertical lines of shadow and light upon Seto. It was Monday. Being a workaholic, Seto looked forward to Mondays; it meant the start of a new week, new tasks to delegate, and new assignments to complete. But he did not enjoy this Monday. He had spent the weekend riding an emotional roller coaster. The ride had not ended, but he was beginning to gain back more of his self-control.

"Kaiba-sama," Seto's secretary called over the speaker phone.

"Yes?"

"Yoshi Kiyosaki is here to see you."

"Send him off - I'm busy. Tell him I'll call him later," Seto said. He was not in the mood to see the man now.

"He won't leave, sir. He's being insistent," her voice returned several seconds later.

"I said not now!" Seto yelled back through the speaker phone. There was no reply. Seto did not have any doubts his friend came by to offer his help with the search for Mokuba.

Yugi and his friends consider you to be their friend despite how you feel. They would help you if you asked.

Again, as it had all weekend, parts of Seto's last conversation with Mokuba returned to haunt his thoughts. It turned out that Yugi was the first person to come by to offer help when the news went public. Seto had shunted him away after ascertaining one thing: Yugi did not have Mokuba.

Seto hardly talked to Yugi after the ceremonial duel in Egypt, which had been several years ago. He had a hard time facing him. He was not ready. Seeing Yugi only brought back memories of the coolest duel he had ever witnessed, and a longing…

…TO FINALLY DEFEAT YUGI ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Isono walked in. "Seto-sama, the police have sent this report." He handed his boss a manila envelope.

"That was quick," Seto commented with a touch of sarcasm. "It's about time they took this seriously." After a quick review of the package's contents, he scowled. "They have no evidence that Mokuba was ever there." Seto studied some of the finer details of the thorough report. He knew without even examining their computers that the lack of evidence was due to Mokuba's handiwork.

"Isono, let's go," Seto commanded.

"Yes, sir."

Two hours later they were both back in Seto's office from the police station. Seto was both dismayed and proud that he had taught Mokuba everything he used to erase his tracks. Seto had no luck in recovering information any more than the police did. It was a dead end. The CEO brooded with his elbows upon the desk, his nose resting on top of interlaced fingers, which covered half of his face. Isono sat across at a slight diagonal. Seto had not dismissed him, yet.

"Seto-sama," Isono broke the silence, "may I have permission to give my opinion, sir?"

"You have permission," Seto replied. "Proceed."

"Thank you, sir," Isono said, and he continued with a tone of one walking around eggshells. "The fact that the trail went so cold clearly shows Mokuba-sama's level of strategic planning. This encourages me to conclude that Mokuba-sama is hiding in a safe place."

"Yes," Seto agreed. "I was thinking the same thing myself. The only question is where is that place?" Isono did not respond. He did not have a clue in spite of wondering about it all day. "Take the rest of the day off, Isono," Seto said. "There isn't much you can do for me now. Thank you for your devotion."

Isono began to protest, saying that he was not tired if Seto-sama was not tired, but Seto cut him short with a response of finality. Isono gave a deep bow and departed. Seto leaned back into his chair, crossing his legs and resting his hands in his lap. He glanced vaguely at the computer screen, looking for a distraction. A pop-up box from his private email account announced one new message.

That's queer, Seto thought. Very few people know my private email address. It must be Mokuba! He leaned forward and opened his inbox with a rush of excitement. It was not from Mokuba, but an anonymous sender. He opened it up anyways and read that it contained a hello and some ramblings about the kind of person this sender was. It also had instructions on where and when to meet the sender, who expressed high interests in meeting him.

Seto was slightly perplexed. He stared at the message for a minute. His first reaction was that it must have been sent to him by accident. However, it contained instructions to meet this person and that led Seto to believe that this person might have information on where Mokuba was located. It could even be Mokuba, Seto thought, trying to surprise me! Dinner at a family restaurant that Seto had never set foot in before… It served middle-class people, and the invitation was on such short notice; but Seto felt that this further proved that it must be Mokuba. Only he would do such an immature thing.

It was with relief and happiness that Seto waited patiently throughout the rest of the day, looking forward to dinner. He actually got off work early! He did not bother to change out of his suit. He took with him his usual suitcase that housed his duel disk and cornucopia of Duel Monsters cards. Once at the restaurant, he walked straight up to the hostess and asked if anyone was waiting for him.

"Oh, yes!" she said, smiling. "You must be the blind date! Right this way…" She grabbed a menu, and walked off without so much as a backwards glance. Seto was confused. Blind date? The hostess must be Western.

Nevertheless, Seto followed her, and she led him to a private booth with one occupant: some strange woman Seto had never met before. It certainly was not Mokuba. Seto gave a brief bow and sat down across from her. The hostess handed him his menu. A waitress came over to them as the hostess left, "Would you like something to drink while you decide upon your order? We have a special on the house wine - a light bodied pinot with a touch of cranberry and plum."

"That will be fine," Seto replied authoritatively. He was not a wine connoisseur since he only drank alcohol socially, but that did not stop him from taking charge of the situation. He was uneasy, but did not show it. The waitress departed and Seto looked from his menu to his date. Her eyes were still widened with shock, cheeks appled, and she was wearing a huge gleaming smile.

"You're Seto Kaiba…" she breathed. She sounded surprised.

"Naturally," Seto replied, feeling wrong-footed. "Didn't you email me asking me to meet you here? Who are you?"

"I'm your blind date," she said happily. "I didn't know it was you I have been instant messaging all this time."

"We've been instant messaging each other?" Seto was completely lost now. He put his menu down and studied her carefully for signs of insanity. He was positive his own memory was as sharp as a tack, and he had no recollections of missing time periods.

"Yes," she replied, a little thrown off by his comment. "I thought you were charmingly funny and sweet."

"Funny and sweet?" Me? This was definitely a mistake! "I'm sorry, but I do not recall instant messaging anyone within the last week. How long ago was this?"

Now she was taken aback. She tilted her head in disbelief and answered, "Since last Saturday… You don't remember at all? Then… why are you here?"

"You emailed me. You should tell me why I am here," Seto said, irritated. He picked his menu back up and perused over the selection. The waitress returned just as he decided upon the most expensive dish on the menu. Seto and his date gave the waitress their orders. After she wrote them down, she gave the woman a wink and smile for luck before leaving again.

This behavior irritated Seto even further. "I never asked to be set up on a blind date," he said as calmly as he could. He looked his companion straight in the eyes, "I have no idea who you are."

She blinked a couple times in amazement. The countenance she wore vividly portrayed her belief that he was crazy. "Ano, then why don't you leave?" Seto began to stand up. "It's so nice of you to play me like this when I haven't had a date since my son died." Her eyes brimmed with restrained tears. "You sounded so compassionate when I told you the whole story." Seto stopped in mid-stance and sat back down immediately. She hadn't realized it, but she found his weak spot - children.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea," Seto apologized with utmost sincerity. Now she was starting to believe that maybe he was telling the truth. It was the first time since he arrived that his features were not like stone. His eyes showed the very compassion she had inferred from her correspondence. His voice was filled with sympathy. "I'm looking for my brother, Mokuba," Seto informed her. "He ran away from home last Thursday. I don't know what I'll do if I lose him…"

"You really haven't been corresponding with me?" she asked hesitantly.

"No," Seto said. "The invitation to this date is the first one I've received from you."

"Then whoever I was talking to must have been setting you up," she said thoughtfully.

"Why don't you give me the email address you were sending your stuff to before; I'll put a stop to this pervert. I don't think anyone should toy with you like that." Seto said seriously.

She dug a piece of paper out of her purse. "Here," she said, handing it to him. "It's an anonymous account with the dating service. After several long conversations, he - or she - gave me your email address. Told me to email you privately if I was interested in a date."

"Dating service…? I definitely did not sign up for this! I'll give them a call and tell them to cancel it." Seto gave her the first smile of the night.

The rest of the evening went well. They were both polite to each other and sympathetic of each other's situation. At the end, Seto even drove her home and walked her to her door. He wished her luck in finding that special someone who would treat her right and understand her needs. He also apologized that he was too busy to pursue any sort of relationship at the present time - even a casual one. She sighed, and said she understood. She wished him luck in finding Mokuba and said that she would say a few prayers for him at the temple she attended. They both thanked each other for a good evening, and Seto went home.

The first thing he did was to look up the phone number of the dating service in the Domino City phone book. He could not find it. So, he went on the internet to visit the homepage. He discovered that their business was located in Osaka. He tried logging onto his account, using the screen-name in the email address, but quickly discovered that even though it was valid, he needed a password. He tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked. He settled on using his business email account to send a message to the contact address posted on the site. Then, he called the phone number that was listed there as well, and left a message.

Seto went to bed wanting to tear apart his innocent pillow out of sheer frustration. The worst part of last Thursday replayed in his mind again. They were in his office; he was working and Mokuba was standing beside him - pestering him.

Mokuba was not deterred by Seto's apparent lack of interest, "What will you do when I move away?"

"What does this have to do with me being nicer?" Seto diverted. …feeling threatened every time Mokuba approached him…

Why? Am I afraid of loneliness? It took a long time for Seto to fall asleep. He never answered his own question - neither denying nor acknowledging the answer.