Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh; unfortunately my imagination is not reality.

Author's Note: These extras aren't as carefully edited as the rest of the story, so don't obsess over typos or other mistakes, please!

Mokuba's Plan

By Pearl of the Dark Age

EXTRAS

Abandoned Concepts, Deleted Scenes, and Random Bits

1. This is the first version I had written to Amelda's date with Ryou in Chapter 12. The pros of this version included that I wrote it so you didn't know it was Ryou until the end. Even my savvy beta-reader didn't figure out it was him until she reached the word, "Egypt." The other pros were that Ryou had a more assertive character, showing that he had healed somewhat from his experience with his yami (keep in mind four years have passed; and no, Lina - I love the old sand rat, but I'm saving him for later!), and that it referred to the background story (Memory Arc) that Amelda had nothing to do with.

The cons, however, were that it didn't reveal Amelda's weakness to the same depth that I wanted, gave him too much information, and made it seem that this was some tangent that I had no intention of exploring. Ryou was a side character - a one night stand. So, you have my reasons.

Amelda would have ordinarily found the date boring if it were not for the constant distraction of his mind circling back to Kaiba every other moment. Somehow, Amelda had been talked into going to the guy's apartment after their drinks. He sat on the worn sofa, which wheezed a small amount of dust as he did so. The place was as messy as his own, but not nearly as crammed. There were RPG board games everywhere, and little figurines used for the games littered the floor. His date handed him a cup of espresso, making polite conversation, and attempted to gain eye contact.

Giving up on his present tactic, the date set his own cup down and moved to sit right up against Amelda. He tentatively put his arm around the redhead and leaned in slightly. It worked. Silver eyes stared into liquid sienna, "Is something on your mind?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry," Amelda apologized. "I'm just preoccupied. It's been a long day for me." He sighed heavily, looking at the young man's long white hair. "Is your hair naturally this white?"

"Yeah," he replied, running a hand through it. "I've thought about cutting it recently." He bit his lip. Amelda noticed the guy was pretty forward, but seemed intimidated all the same. "What do you think?"

Amelda smiled, thinking of what he did to Mokuba. "I could cut it for you," he replied, giving him his cheshire-cat smile. Amelda studied the guy's face carefully. "If you are a good dancer, I could hire you to work at Bishonen-ai. You're quite pretty."

His date blushed like a rose. "I'm not sure if I'm that pretty," he responded, feeling insecure. "When I went to Domino High a lot of girls fancied me. I was never interested in them. I had a hard time getting close to anyone as it was…" he trailed off, giving a little shiver.

"Domino High?" Amelda repeated. He - of course - never attended the school, but the research he did years ago on Seto Kaiba told him that Kaiba did. And probably around the same time as his date. They looked about the same age. "Why did you move to Osaka?" Amelda asked as politely as he could.

"I had friends in Domino City," he answered. "They were always nice to me, even after what happened in Egypt." He looked up, startled as if he had said too much.

Amelda's eyes widened in surprise. He was beginning to feel a sense of foreboding. "Egypt?" he gulped.

"Uhh…" his date gave a nervous little laugh. "Long story… Anyways, I just ended up here, trying to piece my life back together. Start over…"

"I know what you mean," Amelda empathized softly. Now curiosity got the better of him. "Do you know Kaiba?"

"Yes…" the guy said slowly. "Why? Do you know him?"

Amelda shifted his eyes. "Sort of…" he replied. "What do you think of him?"

"I don't like him in the least," he replied. For the first time, his voice was steady with conviction. "He's mean and arrogant. He's horrible to my friends, especially Jonouchi."

"You're friends with Jonouchi?" Amelda asked, surprised. He had a bad feeling where this was going. He remembered seeing Yugi and his group of friends while the Nameless Pharaoh dueled Grimo, but he had no recollection of the young guy sitting next to him.

"Yeah," he looked apprehensively at Amelda. "How do you know Jonouchi? He's never mentioned you before. Do you know Yugi, too?"

"We've met," Amelda looked straight into the brown eyes of a doe. "It's not a big deal," he lied. He hated lying, but he was feeling panicky at the moment. All thought of his principle on having conviction in the truth left him.
"Oh…" his date smiled. He was feeling more comfortable with Amelda now. He placed his other hand slightly above Amelda's knee, rubbing it timidly. "I like your pants," he complimented, still smiling cutely and blushing again. Closing his eyes slowly, he leaned in to kiss Amelda, who turned away. The redhead felt soft, moist lips on his cheek. Suddenly, Amelda wanted to be anywhere but where he was. "I'm sorry," he said, hurriedly standing up to leave. "But I don't think this can work out for us." Amelda left as quickly as he could, leaving a half drunk cup of espresso and a very sad Ryou Bakura behind.

When Amelda arrived home for the second time, he found all the lights turned off. He crept into his bedroom as quietly as he could, noting the darkness and the lumpy shape that was fast asleep. He pulled off his boots and changed into his Bedtime Bear pajamas, soundless as the flight of an owl. He slipped into bed, glancing at Mokuba one last time before closing his eyes. He was so drained, he fell asleep instantly.

2. This scene was cut from Chapter 20. I wanted to have some kind of result with the paper that Mokuba put so much effort into, but it just didn't come out right. You'll notice that I use the same character description here as I did for the journalist in Chapter 20. What became of that journalist? Well, he was "silenced."

The next Monday, Mokuba went straight to Kaiba Corp after school. His cute little face was red and scrunched in fury. His lower lip pouted and his eyes were watery. He stomped over to the chair opposite Nii-sama, sat down in a huff, and folded his arms across his chest.

"I'll call you back, Amelda," Seto said. He hung up and hit the Save button on his computer screen before turning to his brother. "Something wrong?"

Mokuba glared at Nii-sama for a minute; then he whisked out his English essay he had been working on all summer out of his backpack, and handed it to Seto. "Look!" he shouted. "Look!" On the top was a big red zero and See me after class.

"I don't get it," Seto perused the contents. "It appears to be your best yet."

"So good in fact that Sensei does not believe that I wrote it! He thinks it's plagiarized!"

Seto looked up at his sibling, astonished. "I know your English is not that good…" he read some of what Mokuba had written. "You wrote this?"

"YES!" Mokuba screamed. "I wrote it! I did! Me! Onii-chan helped a little."

"If all he did was help then this is legit," Seto remarked.

Mokuba started to cry. "It's not fair! I did my very hardest this summer! Onii-chan was a big help, but he refused to write it for me! I wrote it! And Sensei wants to see you." He handed Seto a note.

Seto was aggravated. The only time he could remember actually going to see a teacher was during Mokuba's bullying phase. (A/N) "Don't worry, my otouto, I'll take care of this."

Mokuba grinned. Sensei is dead meat!

The next day during his lunch, Seto went to visit the English sensei. He opened the door wide, hand outstretched, and made an enterance. Sensei was so startled he dropped all his papers. "Kaiba-san!" he greeted with a rushed formality. "I was just going to have my lunch-"

"If I miss my lunch so do you," Seto ordained. "And it's Kaiba-sama."

"Y-y-yes! Of course…" He did not appear to be more than a few years older than Seto. He was really thin, wore an oversized suit, and his glasses slipped down his nose in further alarm as Seto approached him.

Nii-sama handed him the essay. "Mokuba wrote this. I know who was tutoring him over the summer during his absence. I talked with the both of them, and I know for a fact that this is Mokuba's work!" Seto stared at him. The sensei started to sweat, feeling that he was trapped with something that was cold-blooded and poisonous. Now he understood why the other teachers never complained that Mokuba's legal guardian never attended parent-teacher conferences. Usually Isono acted as the middle man.

"Ano," Sensei said with trepidation, "you have not seen Mokuba-kun's previous work. I could understand a marginal improvement, but this is three times if not more the quality than he has turned in thus far."

"It's Mokuba-sama," Seto scorned. "And I know his work. He writes a progress report for me every week. Like I said, he had a tutor-"

"While he ran away from home?" Sensei interrupted unwisely. But he had a point.

"Mokuba was the one to arrange it, not me," Seto informed in a dangerous whisper. "I have to hand it to my otouto for making the most out of his time."

"Then, would it be possible for me to meet this mystery tutor?" Sensei inquired in delicate tones.

Seto could not believe the gall of this person! Without a reply, Seto whipped out his cell, called up Amelda, and insisted that the redhead come straight away. Then, he sat down at Sensei's desk, waiting.

Even with the advantage of weaving through traffic on a motorcycle, it took Amelda over an hour to arrive from Osaka. Naturally, he was not in a good mood. "What?" he barked as the door banged open.

"Hello," Seto said calmly. He quickly explained the situation. The sensei looked at Amelda skeptically. Bedecked in leather and a mini-shirt, he did not look too credible in Sensei's opinion.

When he mentioned this, Amelda walked straight up to him until they were nose to nose. "I read, write, and speak eight languages fluently, have traveled all around the world, and started my own business. I am more than credible! Mokuba wrote the essay; I helped him. End of story." Amelda stayed to make sure that the correct grade was administered.

A/N: The first time Mokuba is introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh is in the first series manga, and he is a bully. He tried to kill Yugi twice!

I did not go with this because it was uncomfortable, made the chapter too long, and I felt awkward trying to end the scene. It does tie up one loose end, but this is not really relevant to the story.

3. This next scene is cut from Chapter 20, also. It comes between the scene where Seto returns home and the scene where Mokuba returns home. I cut it out because I'm not sure how sex education is conducted in Japan, I was too lazy to find out, it's too awkward, and it's not really relevant to the story.
Seto stopped, remembering Amelda's words to him. "Perhaps," he suggested as he made himself ready to leave for work, "we'll talk about the facts of life tomorrow. You're going to have to learn sometime, and I'd rather you learned from me than your friends, school, or even Amelda."

"Why not Amelda?" Mokuba asked. "I already had lots of conversations about that kind of stuff."

"Amelda's a pervert," Seto stated firmly. "I'd like to teach you some modesty."

"The talk" did not go as well as Seto had hoped. It turned out that Mokuba already learned his basic anatomy from Amelda, who had insisted that the youth used proper terms instead of slang. Seto was more confused than Mokuba when it came to female anatomy, and he tossed the diagram behind him in frustration. Mokuba retrieved it in a hurry.

"What is this for?" Mokuba asked, pointing to the clitoris.

"I have not a clue."

"How is a baby supposed to fit through here?" Mokuba inquired.

His brother looked shocked. "I never considered that before. Maybe that part is stretchy."

Mokuba bit his bottom lip. "I thought it was supposed to be tight." He tilted the diagram to the side for a better angle. Seto shook his head in frustration. Mokuba asked, "Do you know why women bleed?"

"They bleed? What are you talking about?" Seto asked with instant regret.

"Onii-chan had to look it up online when I asked him," Mokuba recounted, "He said he had forgotten." And then Mokuba proceeded to explain every gory, scientific, and detailed fact that he had learned. He even explained which hormones did what during the menstrual cycle. He did not stop until he noticed his nii-sama's face was a light shade of green. "Are you okay?"

"I think that's enough talk for one day," Seto stated. He got up and left without another word.

5. This is version 1 of the opening scene to Chapter 25. I abandoned it as soon as I wrote it. I wanted to include Amelda in the scene, so I wrote version 2, still wasn't satisfied, and posted that one for five days as a "Sneak Preview." Then, after receiving some wonderful tips from Mandolina, I rewrote it again, and came to the present version you've read already.

This is the abandoned version to Chapter 25. You'll see why. Way too OOC on Seto's part. In fact, once I finished, I realized I was writing Amelda because he was what was missing!

The CEO's office door banged open. "It's official!" a loud voice announced happily. Seto knew who it was before looking up. In strutted Yoshi Kiyosaki. Technically it was waddling, but Seto could discern the subtle differences. To give his friend time to cool off, Yoshi had not been in contact with Seto since Bishonen-ai. "I have now formed the 'official' Zen Fan Club!" Yoshi exclaimed gleefully. "We even have an online website!"

Seto was overwhelmed with humor. He rested his head in his arms upon his desk, laughing uncontrollably. Yoshi did not expect this. "What's so funny?"

Seto straightened up, wiping tears away from his cheeks. "If you only knew…" he chuckled, shaking his head. He could just imagine the range of emotions that Yoshi would go through once he told him! "Please, continue," he said in mock formality.

"I am the president," Yoshi elaborated, "and Yoko is… What?" Seto had started laughing again. Yoshi had never seen the cold veneer altered with such a wide grin before.
"Tell me, Seto!"

"I know Zen personally," Seto said in a low, dramatic voice. He paused to watch the torture and excitement course through Yoshi's countanence. "In fact, I neglected to tell you that he and I met four years ago!"

"You know him?" Yoshi breathed in ecstasy. "Tell me everything!"

"Well… I can't tell you… everything…" Seto dragged out, thoroughly entertaining himself by causing Yoshi to hang onto every word. "But… I could tell you… something."

"Tell me!" Yoshi screamed.

"Zen…" Seto smiled evily. "is… my… lover."

"No…" breathed Yoshi.

"Yes!"

"No!" Yoshi said, flushing. He felt jealous. "How can that be? You said you weren't gay!"

"You knew better," Seto said softly, smirking. "I did not want to admit it. It was a new territory for me. It was something I couldn't control." He paused, thinking of Jonouchi's words to him about control. He shrugged. "But, I've accepted it, and now I'm really happy! If you know what I mean…" He smirked even more; his eyes twinkled maliciously.

Seto watched the progress on Yoshi's face. The jealousy was supplanted by irritation that Seto had not told him sooner. Then, that was replaced with happiness, which exponentially spun out of control into sheer fanactic ecstasy. "You are one lucky bastard!" Yoshi shrieked. He giggled. "I am so envious!"

"You're married," Seto reminded him.

"My wife understands."

"You are one lucky bastard, then."

"Yeah," Yoshi agreed. "Will you share him?"

"Hell no!"

"Ah well," Yoshi sighed. He shrugged and finally sat down opposite Seto. "Let's go on a double date!"

"Okay," Seto agreed without thinking. He figured that Amelda would be cool with it. "It would be a good chance for you to get to know Amelda better!"

"Who's Amelda?"

Seto paused, realizing that Yoshi did not know Zen's real name. He had taken it for granted that because he knew, his friend would know, too. "Zen is a stage name; Amelda is his real name," Seto informed. "Although," he said, finally using his common sense, "you probably shouldn't tell anyone other than Yoko. I don't think Amelda would use a stage name if he didn't want anyone knowing his true identity."

"Right!" Yoshi agreed seriously. "You can count on me! I won't betray Zen! I mean Ame… Wait a minute! How do I know that you aren't playing some kind of trick on me?"

"Yoshi," Seto said matter-of-factly, "it's me! Since when do I play tricks?"

6. This little bit would have gone somewhere within the last two chapters. I wrote it not too long before I was nearly finished, but I hadn't started writing the conclusion yet. I didn't use it for obvious reasons. It's too OOC for Seto. (It's more like Amelda) Also, it's just the wrong tone to the ending chapters of the story.
"You hypocrite!" Seto scathingly scorned. "Your principles are just a way of covering up your flaws! You are terrified of being controlled and hurt by others as you have been in the past. Your solution was to establish these 'rules' and 'boundaries' in our relationship to limit my so-called control over you, but I only see this as your way of controlling me! You wear your heart on your sleeve as you say, and yet you are more untrusting than I am! How can you trust me with your soul but not your ass? I thought you were in love with me. Why can't you see that I love you? Why can't you trust me to not hurt you, betray you, or leave you?"
7. An abandoned concept to this story was the setting. Originally I had Amelda living in Kyoto. I moved him to Osaka when I wrote Chapter 19, because I wanted to have a harbor. When I looked at a map of Japan, I realized that Kyoto wasn't next to the ocean. So, there goes the setting!
8. The biggest abandoned concept to "Mokuba's Plan" was the original plotline to the second half of the story. I had intended for Amelda to move in because he became seriously ill and Seto wanted to take care of him. There would have been no date, no Plan E, and Seto would have still been in denial of his homosexuality. This was a lousy plotline for many reasons in my opinion, but it was something that I could relate to because I had been seriously sick for months. But, I did not get sick until after I had come up with this plotline; and as I got sicker, the less appeal this plotline had.

This little scene I had written way back in Febuary or so when I first started putting "Mokuba's Plan" down on paper. It's the one of the few bits I wrote using the now abandoned concept. It's quite skin and bones, mostly dialogue, but it has its charm.

(Seto's working in his study - for a change.)

He could not concentrate. Seto could hear Amelda coughing non-stop. It sounded as if he should have lost a lung by now. Seto could not help himself; he was beginning to feel sympathy.

(Goes to Amelda.)

"Amelda?"

"No. I'm a clone. The original Amelda died last week and passed the illness onto me." Amelda's eyes twinkled at the mingled look of amusement and exasperation upon Seto's countanance.

"Can I get you anything?" Seto asked.

Amelda was slightly surprised at the note of concern. Presently, he was coughing too hard to answer verbally, so he shook his head 'no.'

"Are you sure?" Seto inquired.

Amelda managed to cease coughing long enough to answer, "I don't know what to ask for to make…" more coughing, "…to make me feel better. I have everything: cough drops, assorted medication, water, etc." He gestured to the table beside him. "If you think of something beneficial, feel free to take the liberty of bringing it to me."

That's all folks!