Mokuba's Plan
By Pearl of the Dark Age
Disclaimer: I do solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH - but I wish I did. (winks) How about that, Your Honor?
A/N: Has anyone noticed that each disclaimer is different for every chapter?
Chapter 7
"I think I'll grow a mustache," Mokuba announced out of the blue. He was standing on a stool just to appraise himself in Amelda's bathroom mirror.
"You go ahead and do that," Amelda teased. "Let me know how that works out for you." Mokuba ignored him. He continued to examine his reflection. "If you don't mind, kiddo, I need to use the bathroom. Go outside and watch the grass grow." Mokuba scowled at him, stepped off the stool, and exited.
Living in such confined quarters with another person has a tendency to help one become knowledgeable about who the other person really is. Mokuba was getting accustomed to Amelda's dynamic personality. Amelda had started calling Mokuba kiddo, which Mokuba understood to be an English version of chan. Invariably, it was the little things that began to blossom and paint the picture of a thousand words. Onii-chan had idiosyncrasies and pet peeves galore.
Yesterday, he had brought home a whole pineapple along with the groceries he purchased. Mokuba had grabbed a large knife to cut it open, but Amelda scolded him. Onii-chan said pineapples were to be looked at - not eaten. This made absolutely no sense whatsoever to Mokuba, who called Amelda crazy.
"Why don't you buy a fake one?" Mokuba had asked. "It will last longer."
"They don't look real enough," Amelda had replied.
"Onii-chan," Mokuba had tried to reason, "why not eat it after you've had it for a while?"
"Because I hate pineapple."
Crazy. Sometimes, Mokuba felt like he was Alice in Wonderland. (1) Amelda did not keep a schedule during the week. He exercised whenever he felt like it. Whether it was stretches, aerobics, pilates, (15) or new dance routines for Bishonen-ai, Amelda always had the music on loud when he exercised. Mokuba got to hear music he had never heard before. He had previously only been exposed to whatever the latest trend was through his friends, and the background music that Seto occasionally listened to.
Amelda did the household chores whenever he felt like it. He worked on lighting effects with his computer for work whenever he felt like it. The phone rang throughout the day, but Amelda never had long conversations. Those who knew the redhead knew never to call on Mondays. Now that Mokuba had been through his second Monday, he found the quiet disturbing.
Amelda did get a phone call from Varon once last week. He had talked for over an hour, conversing in English. Mokuba strained to remember every English word he could so he could try to eavesdrop. He could not tell much about what had been said, but he presumed Varon must have been telling funny stories, because Onii-chan had laughed a lot.
Mokuba was not allowed to answer the phone.
During the week, the redhead was a day person. Amelda left the apartment at least once a day, but the times and durations of absences were random. Onii-chan would always come home in enough time to cook delicious meals for Mokuba. He went to work often. Bishonen-ai was closed to the public during non-business hours, but open to employees. It housed an exclusive gym, two pools - one for recreation and one for lap swimming, a rec-room, tennis courts, and a spa. These were for the employees' use only - the public did not even know about it. They have it good, Mokuba had thought when he found out. It's like a resort. Amelda went not only to use the facilities, but to critique his employees' new dance routines and practice his own. The limited floor-space of his flat was no substitute for the stage.
The hours Onii-chan was gone did not bother Mokuba. He worked on his homework, which he found easier to do without the blaring music. Otherwise, he would explore. Amelda had an abundance of stuff - all crammed into a confined space. Mokuba had found a box of condoms along with some other goodies the same day he learned about Bishonen-ai. Two days later, he had found photo-albums of Amelda's relatives. Some pictures included young Amelda before the war, and older Amelda when he went back home after Dartz was destroyed. There was even a picture of him sitting next to a gravestone with his name on it.
When Onii-chan returned home that day, Mokuba immediately prompted for an explanation. Amelda told him that he looked up relatives when he went back home. They all thought he was dead, and held a funeral for him. They held a week long party when they found out he was alive! Amelda said he was not all that close to his relatives, and the reason for their exuberance might have been due to his mother's cousin's love for parties. He was only close to his maternal grandmother, whom he called Nana. She used to live with him and his parents, but they were separated in the war. She searched for him during the war, but when she found what was left of Miruko's remains, she assumed Amelda had died, too. It was through Nana that Amelda was able to obtain photographs of his family.
Mokuba learned a lot from that day. He found out about Amelda's family history - which was interesting in-of-itself, what Amelda was like as a child, what Miruko looked like, and why the redhead's hair was cut in such a particular way.
Over time, Mokuba learned many other intimate things about Onii-chan. He learned the secret to why Amelda always covered his forearms. Although, this should have been obvious, Mokuba had thought upon enlightenment. He learned why Amelda moved to Japan, where he got his Kitchen Rules from, how he started establishing his set of principles, and when he lost his virginity. Mokuba even learned the stories behind the Care Bears (1) and the knife in the wall.
Amelda had taken the punctured picture of the ex-boyfriend off the dartboard, saying that it should have been done months ago since he had been over him for some time. Mokuba knew that story. He still did not really understand the chili-lights. All Onii-chan had said was that it was a souvenir of one wild night in Panama. Enough said.
Amelda emerged from the bathroom. Apparently he had taken a shower …in the middle of the day, Mokuba thought. There is no rhyme or reason. He was dripping wet, and all he wore was a towel.
"Is the word modesty even in your vocabulary?" Mokuba asked.
Amelda returned home after lap swimming at Bishonen-ai to find Mokuba sitting on the couch, waiting for him. Amelda immediately sensed something was up - the peculiar smell in the air and Mokuba's face said it all. The redhead said nothing at first as he looked at Mokuba, whose face was exactly the same as it had been the night Amelda picked him up at Domino City Police Station. "What did you do?" Amelda asked.
"I'm sorry!" Mokuba cried. "I didn't mean for it to go so far…"
"What did you do?" Amelda asked, more sternly still.
"I tried an experiment…" Mokuba said slowly. He stopped there to observe Onii-chan's reaction. His face did not look angry, yet.
"An experiment with what?" Amelda asked patiently. It was like pulling teeth out of a crocodile.
"The oven."
"What?" Amelda exploded. He was immediately furious. "Did you break the ban on cooking?"
"Ano, you said I couldn't cook food," Mokuba stated. "You didn't say anything about anything else…"
"Huh?" Amelda's flash anger subsided a little. Perplexed, but still aggravated, he asked, "What did you do to my oven?" Instead of waiting for an answer, he went to investigate himself. It looked fine on the outside. He did not see any smoke. Mokuba followed him into the kitchen. Amelda turned and looked at him. "Well?"
"Look inside," Mokuba said quietly. Amelda opened the oven door and gasped.
"What the hell did you put in here?" Amelda asked, incredulous.
"Different things lying around the house…"
"Why? What gave you that fuzz-brained idea in the first place? What things?" Amelda interrogated. He was still in too much shock to be angry. Guilt was etched all over Mokuba's countenance. He bowed his head in shame. Amelda waited patiently for him to answer.
"I didn't use anything valuable. I tried different things made out of different materials. I wanted to see what would melt and what it would look like melted. I'm sorry, Onii-chan." Mokuba apologized sincerely.
"Didn't use anything valuable?" Amelda repeated. "Wanted to see what things looked like melted? I hope you used your things, not mine! How can you determine what is valuable? How do you know that what you used didn't have any sentimental value? You don't know everything about me!" Amelda's silvery eyes glinted like a knife. Mokuba looked away, avoiding his gaze. "You did use my stuff…" Amelda breathed, confirming the worst. He was furious. He was fuming like a smokestack. "Do you realize that this junk got into the burners? It's ruined!" he cried. "That's it - you are going to pay for this!"
Terror! Mokuba tried to escape, but Amelda was faster. The angry redhead grabbed the culprit by the ear and half-dragged him to the bathroom. "What are you going to do?" Mokuba squealed. Amelda said nothing as he stood Mokuba up on the stool. Onii-chan opened up a drawer next to him and reached in. For one thrilling moment Mokuba feared it would be a knife, but it was a hairbrush! Mokuba's fears evaporated as Amelda began to brush Mokuba's long black tresses. It feels good, Mokuba thought. How is this a punishment?
He said nothing as Onii-chan brushed his hair thoroughly. When Amelda decided he had brushed it enough, he used the brush and his hands to pull Mokuba's hair into a ponytail at the top of his head. Still clenching the ponytail in place with his left fist, Amelda returned the hairbrush to the drawer using his right hand. Then, he pulled out a pair of scissors. "No!" Mokuba yelled. He hopped off the stool and tried to run away, but Amelda held on fast.
"Yes!" Amelda responded fiercely, forcibly pulling Mokuba back onto the stool by the hair. "This is your atonement for damaging my oven and my valuables!" In three quick snips between Amelda's fist and Mokuba's roots, Mokuba lost the majority of his hair. Now it was just a wee bit longer than Amelda's, but extremely layered. "You should consider yourself lucky, kiddo," Amelda said. "Your hair will grow back." He tied the severed ponytail with a hair band. "I'm going to frame this," he said menacingly, "and mount it on the wall above the oven to serve as a warning to future violators of the Kitchen Rules. I won't be so nice to them. You've done someone a favor."
Sure enough, two days later, there it was. Amelda had softened up after his fury evaporated and gave Mokuba a nice haircut. It did not look good just chopped off. Mokuba insisted to Onii-chan not to give him a "girly" cut, but something cool. It was short and spiky, and only a little on the feminine side - nothing like Amelda's, but Mokuba just knew that the girls were going to go wild over his cool new style!
Amelda had bought himself a new oven. Mokuba had to hide in the bedroom when the delivery men came. When Onii-chan called out that it was safe for him to emerge, Mokuba asked, "What the hell are you so happy about?"
"You should have seen this one guy," Amelda gleefully replied, all smiles, "He was gorgeous! I really enjoyed watching him move the two ovens around. The broad shoulders… the cute ass…"
"I don't need to hear this!" Mokuba screeched, but he was smiling, too. "Did you get his phone number?"
"No. I only flirted a little," Amelda informed him. "He didn't really flirt back. He was probably straight."
"Does that stop you?" Mokuba cajoled. He was grinning ear to ear. Why can't Nii-sama be more open like Onii-chan? Mokuba wondered. He could learn a lot from him.
"I am respectful of others," Amelda replied. "But I do believe that if they can be persuaded, it's all the more fun for the both of us."
Mokuba giggled. "Do you sleep with any guy, as long as he is willing?" Mokuba asked.
"Hell no!" Amelda defended. "I'm not a slut!" He added snootily, "I have my standards."
"Ano, I thank you for not bringing anyone home while I'm here," Mokuba said. He ran is fingers through his short hair. It was still taking time for him to get used to it.
"Ano, I'm not seeing anyone anyways," Amelda admitted. "And it has nothing to do with you. It's been over a year now…" Amelda did not need to finish his sentence. Mokuba raised an eyebrow, "You are still better off than Nii-sama."
"Ouch," Amelda laughed. "You are pretty hard on him. I remember you used to do whatever he said even if you disagreed with him. What happened?"
"I turned thirteen," Mokuba answered. "I'm a man now. I don't have to listen to him."
"Yes, you do," Amelda contradicted. "Like it or not, he is your legal guardian, and he is older, more experienced, and more mature. And you are not a man, yet. You still have a lot to learn."
"More experienced?" Mokuba repeated skeptically. "Maybe in everything else but love. He is just as ignorant as I am when it comes to women. Besides… I've kissed a girl, he hasn't even gotten that far!"
"How do you know?" Amelda inquired, "You don't know what he does when you're not around. He could have gotten a lot farther than you realize and just not have told you about it." Mokuba looked doubtful. "Plus, there are those dates you've been setting him up on. How is that going?"
"Pretty good," Mokuba replied. "I've gotten an angry email from the first lady I set him up with. So, he must have showed up, which means it's working!"
"Poor woman," Amelda sympathized. He sighed deeply and decided to not think about what he was missing, with or without the success of Plan C. Teasingly, the redhead asked, "You're only thirteen and you've already kissed a girl? Sounds like you're on the fast track. How's that mustache coming along?"
"Beautifully," Mokuba answered. "See this?" The redhead leaned in closer as Mokuba pointed to his upper lip. "There's a hair!"
"I don't see anything," Amelda chided. "I think you're imagining things."
Mokuba scowled, "It's there! I'm growing a mustache. You can't stop me, Onii-chan!"
A/N: See my forum, Ink, for information regarding the foreshadowing in the beginning of this chapter. To those unfamiliar with FF: A link to my forum can be found on my profile page, which can be accessed by clicking on my name.
And for a mental image of Moki's new cut, think Killua from HunterxHunter.