Mokuba's Plan
By Pearl of the Dark Age
Disclaimer: Doe - a deer - a female deer; ray - a drop of golden sun; me - I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh; but writing fanfic is so much fun!
Chapter 13
Songbirds were singing in the trees and from their perches on telephone wires, calling to their mates, warning competition to stay away, and catching up on the latest neighborhood gossip. With all the racket they were making in the wee hours before sunrise, anyone who was unaccustomed to being awake at this forsaken hour would wonder how they ever slept through it. Golden light tinted the horizon and stars winked out of sight; the impending sun was rising and the birds chirruped louder still. A tall brunette in a lurid orange jogging suit went unnoticed by the feathered busybodies. He jogged along the street, passing parked cars and the paper boy on his morning route.
Seto wore orange because he had too many near misses with irresponsible drivers. Wearing cool dark colors in the obscurity of twilight was asking to get hit by a car. For someone who placed an exceedingly high value on his image, he did not mind anymore about his appearance - he valued his life over fashion. Seto worked out for two reasons: to maintain his sculptured body and to keep his heart healthy. His physician told him that with the amount of stress that was placed on him during his grueling work hours, he should find some way of releasing that stress in an positive, productive way. The adrenaline rush and the rhythmic breathing rejuvenated him for the rest of the day. Jogging killed two birds with one stone.
He also was completely alone. Aside from the bad drivers and the few nutcases who got up this early to walk their dogs or deliver the newspaper, he did not meet or stop to talk to anyone. He forced himself not to think about work; otherwise, the whole activity would be self-negating. This was his only "me" time. No Kaiba Corp, no media, no stress…
But as Seto's feet pounded pavement, his mind buzzed like a beehive. Amelda, he wondered. Why are you here? I thought you went back to Europe. I thought I would never have to see you again. Seto barely noticed where his feet went; they traveled on their own accord, tracing out the familiar worn path. Why did I have to see you again?
Sweat beads dampened his short brown hair, and his bangs fell into his eyes. The chill of the dawn caused his breath to fog out before him as he jogged. He did not stop. He reached the halfway point of the loop he trekked out each morning and continued on to home. When he thought of Amelda, he could not think of anything else (not even Mokuba). His mind replayed the brief scene again for the hundredth time. A motorcyclist roaring out of nowhere coming to a screeching halt to let a family of ducks cross the road. That is something Amelda would do, Seto thought. It must have been him.
That day, after having lunch with Yoshi, Seto had tried to convince himself that it was not Amelda, but someone who shared his sense of style. But Seto knew in his heart that this was not true. It irked Seto to no end that he could not stop thinking of the redheaded pacifist. Seto rarely ever felt sympathy for people, much less his opponent in a duel. His mind went back to the final part of their second duel.
"You really are like a lost dog," Seto said with a trace of pity. He felt Amelda's pain. He did not know what he would do if he ever lost Mokuba. He feared he would become just as deranged as the psycho he faced.
"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. He was not going to let Mokuba die!
"Don't talk nonsense!" Amelda exclaimed disbelievingly. "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. He knew in his heart that he had the power. "I won't let Mokuba die; I'll end this duel in the next round."
"Can you make it?" Amelda asked. Seto knew that he would draw the card he needed. "Just show me…" Amelda spread his arms open in invitation. "It's your turn now."
Seto could recall with vivid detail the swirling clouds, the smooth contour of the top of the plane, the power in his deck, and the voice of his opponent. Seto could not help but wonder, Why did you let me win? Is it because you did not believe I would, or because you wanted me to win? Seto felt that he knew the answer, thinking about how Amelda had reacted when he lost. The guy complemented me! He was going to lose his soul and he complemented me! Seto did not understand this sort of thinking. Why did you want me to win?
Seto stopped to think about the moment before he drew the Fang of Critius in his duel against Dartz. He remembered looking at the tablet that displayed Amelda's image, his soul trapped as food for the great beast. He remembered thinking of how Amelda had entrusted him with the future, and the thought of failure had brought an intense pain to his heart. He could not bear to lose the duel, not just to save his company, but Amelda as well. He did not feel that Amelda deserved the injustice forced upon him by Dartz. He wanted to destroy Dartz for Amelda's sake. Why do I care so much about the guy?
Seto felt that Amelda could be summed up into two words: Beautiful and Tragic. This is not the reason I wanted to help him. But what was?
Again and again the questions circled around inside his head. Again and again he did not know the answers. He jogged on. His shadow stretched out before him, cast by the now risen sun behind him. The birds were as noisy as ever. But Seto's mind was still trying to sort out his feelings. He was confused more than anything. Earlier in the morning, he had woken up to find a surprise in his bed. He had attributed the nocturnal emission to Mokuba's insistence that he should start thinking about having a relationship. What had I been dreaming about? Seto wondered. He did not set much store by dreams. He suspected that Amelda's reappearance was to blame, since that is when they started. He denied the obvious correlation, so he had to ask himself: Where does this passion come from?
As he rounded the corner, the familiar view of his mansion came into sight. He was relieved to be able to get inside and take a hot shower before preparing for work. He pushed all thoughts of Amelda to the back of his mind. He planned on going to one of Mokuba's favorite hangout spots after work, to see if there was any leads there. He sighed. It was a long shot, and Mokuba was supposed to be returning in a week. He felt a weight press down upon his chest. Perhaps a distraction is what I need, Seto thought as he remembered Yoshi's invitation. Tomorrow night I'll go to Bishonen-ai and not have to think about Amelda.
"Why is no one here?" a young lady asked as she walked in to the game store.
"I don't know why, Becky," the store owner replied. "Black Clown usually does pretty well on a Friday during the summer. Did you just get off work?" She was wearing a crisp white lab coat over a red blouse and black slacks. She nudged her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and gave him a wink.
"Yes," Rebecca said. "We did not have much to do today. The solar weather has been pretty inactive lately, due to the sun being in the recessive part of the sunspot cycle."
"Oh…" was all the man replied. Science was over his head. "So, you came to bug me, huh?"
"Ryuji, darling," Rebecca teased, "I just can't get enough of you!" She tugged his long black hair, which was worn down in a loose braid. "What happened to your wardrobe?" she asked.
"I decided to go for a more casual look," Otogi replied. "I got tired of wearing the old outfit all the time." He plucked at his button-down black shirt. "Why? You don't like it?"
"You look like a Calvin Klein model," (13) Rebecca answered. "It's pretty sexy."
Otogi blushed beet red. He was about to try and change the subject but was saved by the bell. Above the front door a bell jingled, heralding an entering patron. Seto Kaiba came striding over to them as if he visited Black Clown on a regular basis. To Otogi's recollection, the CEO had never before stepped foot in his humble establishment.
"Kaiba-kun!" Otogi said, surprised. "What can I do for you today?"
Cold blue eyes met hot green ones. "I'm looking for Mokuba," Seto responded. He glanced at Rebecca, but made no comment.
"Yeah… I've seen the news reports," Otogi murmured. "He's been gone for almost a month now, hasn't he? How are you doing, Kaiba-kun?"
"Lousy," Seto spat. "Is he here?"
"Mokuba-kun? No. I have no idea where he is. Jonouchi, Yugi, and Honda have been checking all of Mokuba's favorite haunts," Otogi informed. "But no such luck so far. Jonouchi says that Mokuba intends to return before the end of the month, right? That's less than a week from now!"
"I don't want to wait another week," Seto scorned. "I want him back now! I wanted him back three weeks ago!"
"I'm sorry, Kaiba-kun," Otogi said softly, "but I don't know what to tell you."
The CEO had figured that this would probably be a dead end. But he had decided that it was worth investigating if there was one small chance that Mokuba might be here. Seto knew that Mokuba sometimes visited Black Clown to play DDM or Capsule Monsters with the Dice Master, and he thought that maybe Mokuba might be hiding out here. Seto glanced around for a distraction. He looked at Rebecca again. She was a lot taller than he remembered - and curvier. Her hair was cropped short and she wore high heels, but the glasses were the same. "What happened to you?" he asked.
Rebecca was taken aback by the question, "What do you mean?"
"The last time I saw you was KC Grand Prix," Seto explained. "You were a runt then."
Rebecca snapped her fingers in front of Seto in an annoying American fashion, "Time has passed, Kaiba. I've grown up! Get with the program." Seto was immediately irritated.
"You're still only sixteen, Becky," Otogi interjected.
"…with a PhD!" Rebecca added proudly.
"Do you work?" Seto asked, noting the lab coat.
"YES!" Rebecca over-defended. "Why do you think I'm here in Japan?"
"I thought it was to be with me!" Otogi teased in a offhand voice.
"Go fry ice, Ryuji!" Rebecca snapped. She blushed and mumbled a quick apology. Otogi nodded; he was used to her pubescent mood swings. She turned to Seto, brightening instantly. "I have a career at the Kamiokande Dome!" (16) Rebecca informed smugly. She smirked as if this was the most elite job in the world.
"That's impressive," Seto replied truthfully. "But you should be working for me." Seto remembered how well the genius brat was able to hack the computer security codes.
"We can't all be bought for the 'right price,' Kaiba," Rebecca replied, pushing her slipping glasses up the bridge of her nose and winking. Seto smiled, appreciating her confident attitude. She reminded him of himself.
"Why did Mokuba run away?" Otogi asked, trying to remind Rebecca that he was still there. "Jonouchi told Yugi why, but he wouldn't tell me."
Seto was pleased that Jonouchi kept his word. "Mokuba has no respect for me," he answered. Otogi looked surprised by this.
"What?" Otogi said, "That's not the way I remember him. Are you sure it's not the other way around, Kaiba-kun?"
Seto glared at him. "Why should I fear my own brother?" he scowled.
"Okay…" Rebecca said, preparing herself for a lecture, "There are two things wrong with that statement."
"Yeah," Otogi agreed. "If you assume respect is fear, why should your brother fear you?"
"And respect is not fear," Rebecca scolded. "I don't know about the origin of Japanese words, but in English the word respect comes from the word respicere, which means to look at. To respect someone is to see them as they are and admire them as they are. Fear comes from that which we don't understand. You can't respect someone if you fear them, because it shows that you don't really see them as they are. Fear is darkness; respect is light."
"They're complete opposites," Otogi finished for Rebecca. She gave him the look that said I was going to say that!
For a moment, Seto did not know what to think, much less how to respond. He exercised his neutral expression while thinking it over. "Then, by your definition of respect," Seto stated, "what I said the first time was correct: Mokuba has no respect for me. He does not see me as I am. I enjoy working at Kaiba Corp! I'm satisfied with my success." He paused, realizing that he learned something from all this. Fear and respect are not the same thing, he mused with clairvoyance. I want people to respect me as a great duelist and as a powerful businessman, but I want them to fear what I could do to them! Therein lies the unknown. Only an ignoramus would dare double-cross me!
He decided it was superfluous to stay any longer and turned to go. "Let me know if you find Mokuba," he stopped at the door on his way out. "If you do, then maybe you can teach him the difference as well."