Mokuba's Plan

By Pearl of the Dark Age

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. But I would not mind having him for one night… (winks)

Chapter 18

Mokuba sat upon the large, plush couch, waiting. He turned his head to the sound of approaching footsteps. "Well?" he asked expectantly as Amelda neared. "What happened?"

"What are you talking about, kiddo?" Amelda asked in a quiet voice. He sat down next to Mokuba. "You should be telling me. After Kaiba let me inside the house, he took off, saying he had stuff to take care of. I haven't seen him since."

"What?" Mokuba exclaimed. "That's not what's supposed to happen!"

"You seem awfully disappointed about something," the redhead remarked. "What were you expecting to happen?" He was getting suspicious that Mokuba knew how he felt about Seto.

Mokuba elected not to answer. Instead, he asked, "What did you do between the time you took a shower and the time your clothes were laundered?"

"I took a tour around the house, but I still did not run into your brother."

"Please tell me you weren't naked," Mokuba pleaded. He gave Amelda a hopeless expression.

The redhead frowned. "I had a robe on, you little pervert," he defended. "Sheesh!"

"What's sheesh?" Mokuba asked. The English expression was lost on him.

"Good," a voice behind the both of them spoke. "They told me you two were here. Now I can talk to you both properly." Seto moved to their front, and he stared at their guilty faces. Mokuba and Amelda gulped simultaneously. It was obvious Seto had showered and changed as well, since he was clean and wore a different outfit. He settled himself comfortably in an armchair across from them. "Tell me everything," he commanded after a very pregnant pause.

Amelda and Mokuba exchanged glances. "You go first," Amelda blurted.

"What?" Mokuba ejaculated. "Onii-chan, you're older - you should go first!"

"This was your fuzz-brained idea, kiddo!"

"And you agreed to it!" Mokuba countered. "You should tell him first."

"No way-"

"Enough!" Seto interrupted. "Mokuba, this was your idea. You go first." Mokuba was very put out but complied nonetheless. Seto listened without interruption. Mokuba was very good with the details. He elaborated Plan A and B, and even moved onto Plan C. "I knew you were behind that!" Seto announced halfway through Mokuba's speech. He looked straight at Mokuba, pretending Amelda was not there. "Why on Earth did you pair me up with those women? They were horrible! Ano, the first one wasn't so bad…"

"How did that go?" Mokuba asked eagerly.

"Don't you remember getting an angry email from her?" Amelda reminded him, joining the conversation. "Wasn't she mad at you for playing her?"

Mokuba looked sideways at him. "I know that, Onii-chan!" he said. "I was just wondering what Nii-sama thought of it."

"I would not want to do it again," Seto spoke up. "But it was not that bad. Like I said - the second two were worse! Did you know that Vivian followed me after I left? I don't need a stalker, Mokuba." Amelda looked away from the both of them, blushing slightly. He had always considered himself a former stalker of Kaiba's. "Kisama," (7) Seto pointedly addressed the redhead. "Why is Mokuba's hair cut short?"

Amelda blinked, confused by the sudden change in subject. Mokuba knew it meant his nii-sama was bored with the previous one, and he emboldened himself to answer. "That was my fault, Nii-sama," Mokuba explained. "I ruined Onii-chan's oven."

Now it was Seto's turn to blink in confusion. "You ruined his oven? How?" Amelda was surprised to hear concern in his voice.

"I tried an experiment melting different stuff around the apartment," Mokuba elaborated. "I used Onii-chan's things and the stuff went into burners - ruining it. Onii-chan had to buy himself a new oven! So, as punishment, he cut my hair short."

Seto looked from Mokuba to Amelda then back to the former. "Sounds like you got off lucky," he said in a brotherly voice. He turned back to Amelda. "I don't blame you for what you did. How much do I owe you for the oven?"

Again, Amelda found himself speechless. "How about you take him out to dinner?" Mokuba suggested. "Onii-chan said that's what they do in America to pay back a favor." He was referring to the story Amelda had told him about when he had helped Raphael move into his new house in California. Raphael and his fiancée had paid him back by treating him to a posh dinner.

Amelda found his voice, "That's not necessary, Kaiba. When I took Mokuba in I understood that there were certain… uh… risks involved." He smiled. "It's not a big deal."

"What else happened? Besides the oven, I mean," Seto inquired curiously.

"The little squirt made a huge mess the first time he tried to cook anything, broke my cobalt-glass bowl, was very demanding, and he had the nerve to complain constantly," Amelda replied without hesitation. But he was smiling, "Even through all that, I still love him." Mokuba looked bashfully at his brother to see his reaction.

"You love him?" Seto said slowly. His eyes were fixed into Amelda's. His voice was odd. It was not angry, but it was not impressed, either. Neither Mokuba nor Amelda knew how to interpret it.

"Is that so far-fetched?" Amelda asked softly. "He's a wonderful kid. It was a real blessing to have him."

Seto was stunned by this announcement. It only left the slightest trace upon his visage, and due to Mokuba's experience - he picked up this clue immediately. "Nii-sama," Mokuba said. "Onii-chan has given me the best care you could possibly hope for!" He locked eyes with his brother. "I know you are very angry with me for running away, but you should not hold it against Onii-chan. Remember Nii-sama, I said earlier that he tried to take me back to you; but that I persuaded him to keep me because I promised him that it would make up for his debt to us."

"I remember," Seto replied. He glanced quickly at Amelda, "and I concur with this pact you two have made. However, I am not angry with you, Mokuba."

"What?" Both Amelda and Mokuba exclaimed.

"Perhaps I should rephrase that: I am no longer angry with you," Seto said carefully. The overwhelming relief of having his brother returned drowned out any anger. "Do not ever run away again, Mokuba!"

"Yes, sir," Mokuba submissively replied. "I won't." Tears started to fall from his eyes.

Normally tears annoyed the hell out of Seto, but he was shocked. He thought he had gone easy on his younger brother. "What's wrong?" he asked kindly.

"It would mean the world to me," Mokuba sniffed, trying to be dramatic, "if you and Onii-chan would become friends."

"We will see," Nii-sama said vaguely. Granted, Seto had no objection to this since he was no longer in denial about how he felt about Mokuba's "onii-chan." His experience at Bishonen-ai had slammed the obvious in his face. The following week had given him enough time to accept his sexual orientation and deal with it. Earlier, he had been so enraged to discover that Amelda was the accomplice to Mokuba's insane caper that he could not even think. Now that he had calmed down, he felt a bit giddy. It seemed that opportunity was knocking, and he would be a fool to not answer. He smiled indulgently at Mokuba, who stopped crying instantly.

Amelda had been observing Kaiba's reaction the entire time. He was not sure where this was going, but it sounded as if he could help it along in the direction that was most advantageous to him. "You know, Kaiba, on second thought - dinner is not such a bad idea." Mokuba grinned at him.

Seto merely returned his impassive veneer to him in acknowledgement. "Nii-sama's favorite place to eat is the Bounenkai Restaurant downtown," Mokuba informed Onii-chan happily. "One meal there is definitely worth an oven!"

"Bounenkai? (7) What an odd name for a restaurant," Amelda commented. He turned to Mokuba, "I thought I was your favorite cook?"

"He probably just said that to butter you up," (19) Seto remarked.

"Onii-chan is my favorite cook!" Mokuba shot at Seto. "You just wait until you have tried his cooking, Nii-sama! You will think twice about Bounenkai Restaurant!" He turned to Amelda and said in a softer tone, "No, Onii-chan - you misunderstood me. I meant the value of the meal was comparable in price to an oven."

"It's that expensive?" Amelda asked, incredulous any meal could cost so much.

"Ano, not exactly just as expensive as an oven," Mokuba continued. "But after wine and desert, it starts to add up to a comparable amount." Mokuba did not know how much ovens actually cost, but he knew that Bounenkai was the most expensive place in Domino City - and it was Nii-sama's favorite.

"We'll go there," Seto stated confidently. "Let's make it tomorrow night."

"I have work tomorrow night," Amelda replied. Seto stopped being smug for a second; he had forgotten that Amelda would probably not be available on a weekend night.

Mokuba looked disdainful. "Just take the night off, Onii-chan," he suggested. "Sheesh! You're the boss, you don't have to actually go to Bishonen-ai!"

"So you've figured out what sheesh means?" Amelda queried.

"From context…" Mokuba stopped himself to look over at Nii-sama, who was staring straight at him with an odd, closed-expression. "What?" he asked.

"Bishonen-ai?" Seto asked in just above a whisper. The closed-expression had not altered.

"It's this club that Onii-chan owns," Mokuba explained happily, blundering on and not seeing Amelda trying to catch his eye to tell him to shut up. "You've heard Yoshi-san talk about it all the time, Nii-sama! It's…" and his voice dropped dead, suddenly realizing that he had just exposed Onii-chan's sexual orientation before he could determine Nii-sama's. He looked to Amelda for help. The redhead had covered his eyes with his hand in disbelief.

Seto smiled inwardly. "You don't seem to have a problem with Amelda being gay. Do you, Mokuba?" Mokuba shook his head. Seto decided that he would keep this ace up his sleeve and not tell either of them the truth about himself - until the most opportune moment. He turned to Amelda, who peeked at him through a gap in his fingers. "I didn't know you were an entrepreneur," Seto said smoothly. This was true since he had previously just assumed Amelda only worked at Bishonen-ai. Yoshi is going to be beside himself when I tell him, Seto thought. "You will have to tell me about it during our dinner. Is tomorrow night all right?" Amelda dropped his hand in surprise.

Mokuba bubbled over with excitement. He quickly excused himself from the room, giggling madly. Seto pretended he did not notice. Amelda felt as if he was in a dream. Pinch me, he thought. This sounds too good to be true! He swallowed his butterflies. "I can take tomorrow off and get someone to supervise," he replied as casually as he could. "I am the boss, after all."

"Perfect," Seto said suavely. "It's a date, then." Seto stood up. "I'll walk you to the door." Amelda took the hint and followed suit. When they got outside, the redhead looked up and saw Mokuba leaning out a second floor window, waving goodbye. Seto followed Amelda's gaze. "You two have become quite close," he remarked casually as Amelda waved back. Inside he was burning with jealousy. "Perhaps I should have your address and phone number so I can contact you. Mokuba might want to see you again."

"Oh," Amelda reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. While he was writing his contact information down, using the roof of his car as a ledge, he avoided looking at Seto. The latter took the time to scrutinize the redhead's automobile.

"What is this supposed to be?" Seto scorned.

"Transportation," Amelda smirked. "I got it out of a Cracker Jack Box." (20)

"I would think that with the money you must make from Bishonen-ai you could afford a much nicer car," Seto bemused.

"How would you know?" Amelda inquired, handing the paper to Seto. His interest peaked.

"A friend of mine, Yoshi," Seto diverted, "has told me a lot about it."

Amelda licked the back of his teeth and smiled broadly. "One of my waiters said they saw you there last Saturday night," he confronted.

Seto pretended this was of no importance. "I'm glad it stopped raining," he remarked, looking at the sky. Then he looked straight into Amelda's eyes, which gleamed at him. He said as coolly as possible without breaking eye contact, "There's a Bounenkai Restaurant in Osaka. I'll pick you up at six and we'll go there." And he walked off back into the house, without waiting for an affirmation from Amelda.

Mokuba watched the redhead drive off before going back downstairs to interrogate his brother. "Nii-sama?" he called, finding him in his study. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Seto smiled happily. "It's none of your business. You should get ready for school tomorrow."

"Why do they have to start school on a Friday?" Mokuba whined. "Do I really have to go?"

"Yes, you do have to go," Seto ordained. "It's only an orientation day to reaclimate you, turn in homework, et cetera - nothing you need to stress." He was busy typing on his laptop, which he had put back in its original location: the office desk in his study.

"It's stupid," Mokuba pouted. He slumped in a chair next to his brother, and it hit him. It felt like he had never left home. It was so familiar to be by Nii-sama's side that it was natural. The feeling soothed his aches from missing his beloved brother like a healing balm. He was amazed with the revelation. "Nii-sama," he whispered. "I really missed you!" He got up and gave his brother a hug, who stopped typing to hug him in return. "I have to ask you, Nii-sama…" he asked slowly. His face was only inches away. "Did you learn your lesson?"

Seto gave a small laugh. "Mokuba, I believe I've learned more than even you intended." He ran his hands through Mokuba's short hair. "This looks weird on you. But it isn't bad."

"That's what you think," Mokuba grinned and winked. "The girls are going to love it!"