Mokuba's Plan
By Pearl of the Dark Age
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, because I'm not Kazuki Takahashi! That lucky guy…
Chapter 29
Six pairs of eyes turned onto Seto as he walked out of the living room and into the hallway. He was not literally coming out of a closet, but it sure felt that way. Much to his relief, no one was smiling. Mokuba appeared to not understand why the atmosphere was so heavy. But he stopped struggling, and Honda let him go. "What's wrong, Nii-sama?" he asked, worried.
Seto did not answer him directly. "All of you should come in here," he said in a hollow voice, gesturing to the living room behind him. The older guys looked apprehensive, but Mokuba and the girls ambled in without a second thought. Since there were no screams, Yugi, Jonouchi, and Honda concluded that it must be safe. They walked briskly past Seto, avoiding eye contact. The CEO followed them in and closed the door behind him. Everyone found somewhere to sit and waited patiently for Seto to explain himself. The guys noticed that the redhead was nowhere to be seen.
Seto was not sure where to begin. Even though his legs felt weak, he would not sit down. He decided to address Mokuba's question first. "There's nothing wrong, Mokuba," he said, "except for the fact that your friends have intruded upon my privacy." His younger brother's eyes widened in alarm. He knew that meant trouble for everyone and was vaguely wondering how to wiggle himself out of it. Seto turned to the group in general. "This is my house, and I am permitted to do as I wish. I will not apologize for my actions. If you are Mokuba's guests, then you are my guests, too. I expect you all to behave accordingly."
Silence. The guys looked at the floor, unsure of how to respond. Miho spoke up. "I'm sorry. Did we do something wrong?" she inquired. Neither she nor Shizuka had seen what Seto had been doing.
The CEO scrutinized her momentarily. He replied, "I would like to say 'yes,' but even I'm not sure if that's correct."
Mokuba was shocked. Is that my nii-sama? No one invades Nii-sama's privacy and gets away with it… He thought for a moment. My plans have affected him!
Seto glanced around the room in general. "As you now know, Amelda and I are lovers. He has been living with me for almost a month. When Mokuba ran away from home, he had gone to stay with Amelda, figuring correctly that I would never look for him there. When Amelda returned my brother to me, we started dating, and one thing led to another."
More silence. Mokuba surveyed the others for their reactions. They seemed to be taking it pretty well. Yugi was biting his lip, and Honda was picking at a small hole in his jeans. Jonouchi recovered first. "I can't believe that you're gay," he said flatly. "I know what I saw, but you are the last person I would suspect. Bakura, yeah… But you?"
"I'm surprised that it is with that Doom guy who tried to kill you," Honda supplied. "Didn't he cause millions of yen in damages to your airplane?"
He's right, Seto realized. That bastard owes me! He shrugged nonchalantly as if this was insignificant. "Amelda had his reasons for trying to steal my soul. They may have been misplaced - but since I thought otherwise - I didn't blame him. I don't hold any of it against him."
"That's nice of you," Miho said, astonished.
"It has nothing to do with being nice," Seto replied coldly. He folded his arms, feeling more secure with himself.
Yugi decided that it was time to speak up. He had not forgotten their last conversation, and he was wondering if that had any affect on his reluctant friend. "Kaiba-kun," he asked politely but pointedly. "Do you remember anything about our last conversation?"
"Every bit of it," Seto answered flatly, forging eye contact. "I'm making good use of your advice, if that is what you want to know."
"What about mine?" Jonouchi immediately inquired.
Seto did not move or flinch, but his eyes locked onto him. "Yes," he stated.
Jonouchi waited expectantly for more, but nothing more was said. "What? You want a trophy or something?" Seto asked sarcastically.
"Ah," Jonouchi said, smiling. "I knew you hadn't changed! I always thought gay guys were supposed to be sensitive and all. You're living proof that's not always so!"
Amelda entered from the annexed bathroom and noticed immediately the room was not vacant as he had presumed. He made to slip back into the bathroom, but Seto had spotted him and called out, "Join us, Amelda. Don't be shy." The redhead glared at him, but he reluctantly strode over to sit next to Mokuba. Unnoticed by anyone, Miho gaped at the dancer in disbelief.
Mokuba turned to Amelda and queried, "Why were you hiding in there, Onii-chan? I expected you to be more open than Nii-sama about being caught… whatever it was you were doing."
Amelda gave him a one-arm hug and cajoled, "I was not hiding; I was taking care of unfinished business." Jonouchi snorted with laughter before he could stop himself. Seto blushed slightly, but no one noticed as everyone now stared at the redhead incredulously. Enjoying the attention, Amelda remarked, "What did you expect?" The cheshire-cat smile widened delightedly.
"I have to ask," Jonouchi began, "why on Earth would you be Kaiba's boyfriend? I know a very nice gay guy. He would be a much better choice than him." Jonouchi indicated the glowering CEO. "His name's Ryou Bakura. I don't believe you've met him."
Amelda paled. Seto was taken aback by this reaction. "You know Bakura?" he asked his boyfriend.
Amelda shook his head no, burning with guilt. He gazed squarely into Jonouchi's sienna eyes. "I love Seto. I don't care what you think of him or my taste in guys - but don't insult him in front of me."
Jonouchi shrugged. Yugi spoke up in his friend's defense, "It's not really an insult, Amelda-kun. Kaiba-kun is known for his self-centered, inconsiderate behavior."
Amelda laughed. Seto smirked. He could not deny that there was truth in Yugi's statement, but he had changed considerably over the summer. "Where Amelda is concerned, Yugi, I am very considerate. Furthermore, Amelda is… Let's just say you don't know him. Don't be so judgmental of me without understanding Amelda's behavior, too."
"I am not self-centered or inconsiderate!" Amelda defended, eyes narrowed in rising anger. "How dare you!"
"I didn't say you were," Seto replied calmly, smirking.
"Then what were you saying about me?" Amelda snarled.
Seto sighed silently. "You aren't perfect. I just don't think that they should view you as if you're the innocent one in the relationship. If anything, I've suffered more at your sharp tongue and sadistic behavior than you have of me."
Amelda stiffened with dignity. But his cool attitude broke when he grinned heartily. "You're right," he conceded, laughing softly.
"I guess you don't hold it against him that he beat you, taking your soul," Honda commented.
The redhead stared across to Honda. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "I let him win!"
"You did not!" Seto responded heatedly.
"I did, too!" Amelda yelled back. "I gave up my last turn, remember? If I hadn't done that, I could have defeated you! Admit it!"
"It's your own fault if you chose to give up your turn! I still won," Seto expounded.
"I didn't say that you didn't," Amelda said, perplexed. He closed his eyes in mock self-righteousness. "I was merely explaining to Yugi's friend here that I did not lose because I was an inferior duelist."
Seto almost contradicted his lover, but he thought better of it. "There is an easy way to solve this," he boasted. "I'll take you up on a rematch any time you want."
Amelda obviously did not have this in mind. "Ano, I don't know what I did with my duel disk. I might have left it in Knin." He scratched the back of his head, pretending innocence.
"Sure you did," Seto smirked. The company started to snicker and laugh under their breaths. Seto was pleased that they were on his side, but it also reminded him that they were still there. The CEO addressed the room at large. "Any more questions? If not, you can go home now. You've worn out your welcome."
"I have a question," Amelda said, raising his hand as if they were in school.
"You don't count."
"What? I live here!"
"Exactly. You can ask me later. Anyone else?"
"Yeah," Jonouchi replied. "How long have you known you were gay?" He thought of the three hours he had spent trapped with him in the pitch black elevator.
"Only about a week before I started dating Amelda," Seto answered.
Mokuba's interest peaked. "But I was still gone at that time," he said, curiously. "What happened to make you realize that you're gay, Nii-sama?"
"I went to Amelda's place of business," Seto replied, realizing too late that it sounded wrong. The guys smirked at him and the girls giggled.
But Mokuba knew what he was talking about. Not understanding the concept of being discreet, he rhetorically asked, "You mean Bishonen-ai?"
There were a few startled gulps as everyone stared at either Mokuba, Seto, or Amelda. Miho blushed furiously, and Shizuka asked her what the matter was. She shook her head in denial. Jonouchi grinned. "What is Bishonen-ai, Miho?" he queried in a teasing tone.
"I don't know," she lied. "I've never been there." She stood up and gave a brief bow. "Thank you for your hospitality, Kaiba-kun, but I'm afraid I have to go home now." Without further ado, she walked swiftly out the door and out of sight.
Turning to Amelda, Jonouchi demanded, "What's Bishonen-ai?"
Looking to his boyfriend for a cue, Amelda could tell by Seto's cold glare that if he answered that question, Seto would kill him. He faced Jonouchi. "It's a theater-club that features bishonen dancers," he informed.
Jonouchi's nose turned pink. I hope Crystal's never been there, he thought. My girlfriend does spend a lot of time with my sister and Miho while I'm at school. He looked at Shizuka. "Please tell me that you've never been there," he pleaded. "And that Crystal hasn't either." (A/N)
Shizuka put a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "I've never even heard of it," she said. "But I don't know about your girlfriend."
"Any more questions?" Seto intervened. "Because you can all go home now." Every one exchanged glances. They all had a thousand questions, but they knew better than to test Kaiba's tolerance level, especially after that stunt Amelda just pulled. "One more thing before you all leave," Seto informed them. "Don't tell anyone that Amelda is living with me, that he's my boyfriend, and that I'm gay. I don't want this going public. It's bad enough that you guys know."
Mokuba did not tell Nii-sama that Isono also knew. He knew that Isono would not betray his boss, so he felt that it would not hurt Seto to not be informed.
"You can count on us, Kaiba," Jonouchi said, "even if you don't believe in the power of friendship yet."
"I put that power to the test once," Seto replied, smirking, "and it failed! Vivian followed me to Yugi's house!"
"That was funny!" Yugi exclaimed before he could stop himself. An icy glare fell upon him. "What, Kaiba-kun? I saw the whole thing outside my window."
Mokuba laughed. He remembered Vivian's apologetic email. "Yeah, she did say she was sorry," he informed his brother. Everyone looked at him. "I was the one who set Nii-sama up on that date!" he confessed. "She was emailing me thinking I was him!"
A look of understanding passed around the room. "Ano, I think it's time we leave now," Yugi said, glancing at the steely expression upon the CEO. Yugi and his friends left in a hurry, thanking Mokuba for the cookies and tea, and expressing their collective relief that he was home safe and sound. The young Kaiba thanked them for visiting and asked them to come again soon while ignoring the glare from the older Kaiba.
After everyone left, Seto turned to his lover and his brother and said icily, "I'm going back downstairs to finish my work." And the two knew that translated into, 'Disturb me again and die!'
Author's Note: I forgot to put this sooner, but Crystal's an OC in my other fic, "Over Yonder." I tend to re-use OCs. I picked her name in this fic for Chapter 6 (before I started OY) because it's a hard name to pronounce in Japanese. I used her again when I started writing OY, and I decided to keep her! Don't use without permission.