Mokuba's Plan

By Pearl of the Dark Age

Disclaimer: Knock-knock. (Who's there?) It is not the owner of Yu-Gi-Oh. (What kind of knock-knock joke is that?) It isn't - it's a disclaimer. I do not own.

Chapter 10

Mokuba sat at the computer desk, typing away, and checking his handwritten notes every so often. He was working on his English report for his book, "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." He and Amelda finished it yesterday. They had been reading it together for the last week when the elder noticed that Mokuba had not gotten very far into it. "You need to finish it soon, kiddo, so you will have enough time to write a decent report," Onii-chan had pointed out sternly. "Your vacation is half over." He agreed to help by making Mokuba read aloud to him. The latter hated this idea until after he tried it. His English improved three-fold because Amelda was a stickler on pronunciation and could explain odd English rules and the vocabulary.

"What's the difference between a, an, and the?" Mokuba had asked once. Amelda immediately proceeded in explaining the use of determinatives. Mokuba ended up learning a lot more with Amelda in one week than he did his previous semester in school. Nii-sama will be so proud of me, Mokuba thought.

Amelda was in the bedroom, picking up Mokuba's clothes off the floor. My messy habits are rubbing off on him, Amelda thought. Kaiba is not going to like that. He searched under the bed, found a few more articles of clothing, and Mokuba's duffle bag that he was looking for. Earlier in the morning, Mokuba had a sudden panic attack telling Onii-chan that he did not have any clean underwear other than the briefs he was wearing. Amelda's first reaction was that of a typical parent, "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday? Or anytime sooner?" So, Amelda had to drop all his plans for the day to do Mokuba's laundry at the laundromat; the apartment complex he lived in did not have a washer and dryer for the tenants' use.

Amelda sighed. He went over to the closet, pulled out the hamper, and over-turned it onto his bed. He sighed again, feeling slightly depressed. Amelda began sorting through his clothes and Mokuba's. Once he had gathered all of Mokuba's, he stuffed them into the empty duffle bag and zipped it shut. There was no room for Amelda to bring his laundry, too. He returned his own clothes to the hamper and put the hamper away. He stopped in front of his vanity mirror, startled by his reflection.

The look in his silver eyes said it all. It had been almost three weeks since he first picked up Kaiba's younger brother, and this is what happened. Amelda bonded with Mokuba. He started to really care about him and love him like he was his younger brother. He had tried to stop himself, but was lousy at not embracing such brotherly love. Amelda's prediction that Mokuba would not replace Miruko, but help fill the void anew, came true. Amelda's reflection began to swim before him through watery tears. He closed his eyes, unable to look at himself any longer and recognize the pain. A familiar memory flashbacked in living color as saline droplets streaked down his face to his chin.

"You really are like a lost dog," Seto said with a trace of pity.

"You said if you were me you would save your brother," Amelda said. "Are you sure you could do it?"

"Sure." Seto replied in total confidence.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Amelda exclaimed disbelievingly. He so badly wanted to believe… "I have three monsters. Before the plane crashes, how are you going to defeat me and save Mokuba?"

"Just carry on, Amelda," Seto affirmed forcefully, clenching a fist. "I won't let Mokuba die; I'll end this duel in the next round."

"Can you make it?" Amelda asked. Seeing the look in Kaiba's eyes, he suddenly wanted to be the one who was wrong, "Just show me…" Amelda spread his arms open in invitation. "It's your turn now."

"Amelda, look at the power of a real dueler and the splendor of the chosen one!"

Amelda was in love with Kaiba. The seed was planted at that very moment when Amelda took a leap of faith. He had held Kaiba responsible for Miruko's death. The son of Gozoboro had became the scapegoat for Amelda's own guilt. Kaiba had exposed the hypocrisy of the psychotic pacifist. Amelda could hear the love in Kaiba's voice for his brother, which led him to believe that he could be wrong about Kaiba… about everything.

He trusted Kaiba. This was a huge issue for Amelda because Trust was sacred to him. Thus, Amelda was always very selective of whom he trusted. I did not even have myself to believe in, and suddenly I was believing in my sworn enemy. The seed developed a little shoot when Amelda got his soul back. He had been wrong. Instead of that destroying Amelda, it was the first step to being healed. His weary soul was happy.

The little shoot grew; because every time something good happened in Amelda's life, the redhead would stop for moment and say a prayer of thanks to Kaiba for giving him his soul back. He fell in love with his hero.

I gave you that chance, Amelda spoke to Kaiba in his head, as if he were telepathic. Without me, your soul would have been lost. I gave you the chance to prove that you were right, to save me, and the world. Amelda sunk to the dingy carpet floor of his bedroom; his heart ached. How can you not love me in return?

The moment returned when Amelda got the crazy urge to keep Mokuba for himself. He felt that selfish urge from time to time, and it tore him in two. Mokuba trusted Amelda. The redhead had promised that he would return Mokuba to Kaiba not on Mokuba's request, but of his own initiative. Amelda knew that it would take something as powerful as a pinky promise to override his desire to selfishly keep Mokuba. He made that prediction when he decided to comply with Mokuba's Plan. Amelda knew himself better than most people could ever hope to know themselves.

I could have won, Amelda reminded himself, and it would have destroyed me. I never would have gotten myself back. But I did the right thing... How can you not see, Kaiba, that I love you? Amelda pulled himself up off the floor and onto the bed. He put a hand upon the duffle bag, letting his selfish desire to keep Mokuba be transient, and pass on its own. I love you, Kaiba; so, I will not hurt you by keeping your brother. I hope you understand I only kept him to make myself worthy of you. He promised me this would make us even.

Amelda curled up into a fetal position on the bed next to the bag. Even though painful memories caused him weariness, Amelda had a very strong soul. It got stronger the more he understood himself, the more standards he place upon himself, and the greater the love he gave. But his soul was very weary, and he needed to rest. He started to cry again, harder this time. This time, he could not stop. Crying was inefficient to Amelda, but unlike Kaiba, he knew that he had to let it be transient and pass on its own.

Mokuba's heart stopped. He could hear a strange noise just barely audible over the pattering of the keys. Mokuba stopped typing to hear better. Now he knew for certain and his heart pounded fiercely. It was a noise he was familiar with after living three weeks with Amelda. But he had only heard it during the deepest parts of the night, when Amelda was trapped in his own subconscious, reliving nightmares of his past.

Mokuba's eyes stung. He never heard Amelda cry during the day. The redhead was usually gay and cheerful, smiling like a cheshire-cat and jovially teasing Mokuba whenever the opportunity presented itself. Onii-chan! Mokuba walked over to the door of the bedroom and opened it slowly.

Amelda's curled back faced Mokuba, who was agonizing over what to say to make his onii-chan feel better. He's usually so confident and strong, Mokuba thought, just like Nii-sama. Mokuba had been the one to understand Amelda's suffering when the redhead stalked his prey, trying to reap their souls; and Mokuba also had been the one to understand that Amelda had a good soul. Mokuba wanted to help. He treaded carefully, as if his footfalls might scare off Amelda. "Onii-chan?" Mokuba called softly, laying a hand on his back. "What can I do for you?"

Amelda tensed slightly at the touch, and dared not move. He was afraid if Mokuba saw his face he would know everything. "You are a blessing to me just being here," Amelda whispered kindly. "There isn't anything else you can do besides that."

Tears fell silently from velvet eyes. "Onii-chan!" Mokuba cried, and he slumped on top of Amelda. Onii-chan rolled over and hugged Mokuba in a tight embrace, pressing him to his heart, and giving him a kiss on the top of his head.

For several hours neither one spoke nor moved. They both stopped crying not long after, but each needed the other to hold on to for a little longer. Finally, Amelda gave a gentle nudge to persuade Mokuba to get off him. He complied. Amelda could see in his eyes what he was thinking. "You don't want to leave me, do you?" Amelda stated, "And you want your nii-sama back. You miss him, but you don't want to leave me. You should know that you can't have it both ways."

"Why not?" Mokuba pouted. "I can never give up Nii-sama! But… I don't want to give up you either, Onii-chan!"

"What do you suggest that we do then?" Amelda asked rhetorically. "What plan can you come up with this time?" He wanted Mokuba to realize that there was no way to have it both ways through Mokuba's failure at conceiving the Perfect Plan. Amelda received a little jolt at Mokuba's ingenious reply.

"You're gay! Can't you seduce Nii-sama or something?" Mokuba said this as if this was the most obvious solution in the world. Amelda had to laugh a little at Mokuba's simplicity.

"For that to work, kiddo, your nii-sama would have to be gay, too." Amelda explained matter-of-factly. He smiled a little and felt better, in spite that he was stating the very thing that he most wanted he believed would never happen. He looked at Mokuba's passive face, who was obviously thinking up a storm but it was impossible to tell what. "Would you be okay with your nii-sama being gay?" Amelda asked.

"I'm okay with you, aren't I?" Mokuba replied. He had that determined look in his eyes again.

"It's not the same thing," Amelda responded. "He is your real older brother. You might feel differently." Amelda knew that some people were okay with homosexuals, as long as it was not someone within their own family.

Mokuba pondered this possibility. He had not really been serious about hooking Onii-chan and Nii-sama up together, and he wondered how he truly would feel if that were to happen. "I don't think I would feel different about Nii-sama being a homosexual; I think I would accept him and love him just as I do now," Mokuba said thoughtfully. He looked Amelda straight in the eyes, "But I don't think you would be good for my Nii-sama."

"What?" Amelda ejaculated. He could not believe this - much less the conversation. "How dare you say that?"

"Oh come on, Onii-chan - use your head!" Mokuba said, exasperated as if explaining one plus two equals three for the millionth time. "You two would fight all the time! Nii-sama has to control everything - and you can't be controlled! You're both stubborn as oxen. Nothing will get resolved because neither one of you would concede in a disagreement. You're messy and he's a neat freak. You're laidback and he's uptight. You're both workaholics. The only difference being that you always have to have some sort of hobby to do while with him it's actually work."

"I resent that," Amelda interrupted. "I do work and hobbies are good for you."

"My point is that you would both be very busy and would not have time for each other. That is not a healthy relationship."

Amelda was impressed. "So you have been listening to me?" he said rather than asked. They both had many lengthy conversations over the last three weeks about what makes a relationship healthy, since Mokuba was so keen on the subject.

"You both are very confident," Mokuba continued, "but he's arrogant, and you are humble. He's modest - you're not!" They both snickered at this. "Most importantly… While both of you are very smart and use your heads, you are an extrovertly passionate guy…" Mokuba trailed off, thinking of the knife that was embedded in the wall next to the door. "and Nii-sama is introvertly passionate."

"He's passionate?" Amelda asked skeptically.

"Ano, I don't know about in bed," Mokuba said, pulling a face, "but doesn't passion mean compelling or strong emotion? He certainly has that. The success of Kaiba Corp and Kaiba Land are products of this passion. Nii-sama really does care about disadvantaged children. Duel Monsters is another passion of Nii-sama's. And he loves me…" Mokuba added, "He just keeps all his passion under a layer of ice."

They both grinned at the metaphor. Amelda began to tingle with the concept of Kaiba being passionate about him. "But isn't it possible that if we worked together we could get along?"

"If you two could work together as a team, there would be no stopping you!" Mokuba cheered.

Amelda's smile widened, "Then, if he hypothetically was gay and was in love with me, wouldn't we get along because we're in love with each other? Because we love each other we would overcome our differences, right?"

Mokuba stopped for a moment to study Onii-chan's face. It was the hope in his voice, the fact that he did not say his own love would be hypothetical, and the light in his eyes that Mokuba now knew how Amelda truly felt about Seto. Could I really have the best of both worlds? Mokuba's mind reeled with the tantalizing prospect. Could I make it happen? He decided that he would give this some serious thought. "I suppose…" he said, slowly. He did not want Amelda to get his hopes up if Nii-sama was not gay. "I suppose if you two did love each other - truly loved each other - that not even you two could stop yourselves… if Nii-sama is gay. There is no evidence that I know of other than the fact that he has no interest in women."

"Ano, that is the first requirement," Amelda said softly.

"What are the others?"

"There is only one other: you have to be sexually attracted to men," Amelda said with a sly smile. "That is all it takes."

Mokuba considered the possibility. So far, he had no recollection of Nii-sama being attracted to a guy. In fact, Nii-sama seemed to hate every guy he met. He could not stand Yugi and his friends. Yoshi may be bisexual but he was only Nii-sama's friend and was married - so Mokuba did not think this meant anything. "My head hurts," he stated finally. "And don't you have laundry to do?"

Amelda stood up, suddenly serious. "Don't get cheeky with me, kiddo. It's your laundry!" His stern face broke into a grin, and they both started laughing. "Ah, you're right," Amelda said, picking up the duffle bag. "I think I'll take my motorcycle."

"You have a motorcycle?" Mokuba asked excitedly, "Then why do you drive that cardboard box?"

"That cardboard box carries groceries and impetuous thirteen-year-olds," Amelda replied. "Show some respect." Amelda put on his signature leather jacket and strapped the duffle bag to his back. "I'll be back in a few hours," he said. "Try not to ruin anything or burn the place down while I'm gone."

Mokuba watched him go, thinking heavily about how he could persuade Nii-sama to allow Onii-chan to live with them. Mokuba did not figure that Seto was gay - he just wanted the two of them to get along so Amelda could live with them and cook for them. Mokuba could not stand the thought of losing Onii-chan, so he took a break from finishing his report to brainstorm Plan D.