As Joey walked the streets of Domino, he was getting really tired, really fast. It seemed as though he had been walking around in circles for hours on end. To make things worse, rain started to pour heavily from the now darkened sky.
Just great… Joey groaned inwardly. He then caught sight of a nearby alleyway and decided to take refuge there for the night.
Sitting down on the cold, hard pavement, he shivered from head to toe. He was completely drenched which did not help in the slightest. Joey hugged himself and pulled his knees up to his chest, trying so hard to keep his body warm. As much as he tried to refuse, the need for sleep overcame him and in a matter of minutes he closed his eyes and was out like a light.
Seto Kaiba, president of the world famous Kaiba Corporations was just getting back from a meeting out of town dealing with important company matters. On his way home, he picked Mokuba up from his friend's house. Since he was gone for pretty much the whole day, he decided that it would be best for his brother to spend some time with his friends.
"Hey Seto!" Mokuba exclaimed as he got inside the limo, closing the door behind him. He sat down next to his older brother, strapped on his seatbelt and turned to face the elder Kaiba.
"Hey kiddo. How was your day?" Seto inquired with a hint of a smile. That wasn't a usual expression to be seen on the normally serious businessman's face but whenever he was around the young pre-teen he couldn't help it.
"Great! Ryan and I - " Mokuba paused in mid-sentence as he stared curiously out the window.
"What is it Mokie?" Seto asked, looking over in the same direction.
"Stop the car!" Mokuba shouted to the driver who complied and did as he was told. When he pulled over to the side of the road, the raven-haired child didn't hesitate in flinging the door open and running out into the rain.
"Mokuba!" Seto called from the limo. "Where are you going?"
"Follow me!" was Mokuba's response before he disappeared into an alleyway.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Seto murmured to himself as he stepped out of the limo and followed his little brother into the shadows of the alley.
Mokuba then stopped dead in his tracks as Seto approached him.
"What's wrong?" His tone was firm but held a kind of sympathetic ring to it.
Mokuba didn't say anything except pointed to a drenched, sleeping figure who looked awfully familiar to the two Kaiba brothers.
"Wheeler?" Seto's eyes grew wide when he realized who was lying before him. The blonde began to stir slightly as his eyelids began to flutter open but then closed almost immediately afterwards.
The pre-teen gave a relieved sigh. "Phew, thank Ra he's okay." Seto only grunted. Mokuba just shifted a glare in his direction before continuing to speak. "I wonder why he's sleeping out here in the rain?"
"Probably got kicked out of the doghouse that he calls his home," Seto smirked and then received another deathly glare from his brother.
"Seto that's not nice! Even if you two are arch rivals you could at least show some sympathy!" This tone of voice was not normally heard coming from the usually calm and quiet child and that, surprisingly, took Seto aback. He then looked at his little brother apologetically without saying a word, hoping to be forgiven. Mokuba, seeing the expression on his brother's face and the present circumstances, decided that now wasn't the time to argue.
"Maybe we should take him to our place, at least until he feels well enough to go back home," Mokuba suggested, knowing almost full well that his brother would refuse.
"Absolutely not Mokuba! There's no way I'm going to take someone like Wheeler into my home! He'd probably contaminate the place with fleas or something!" That was when Mokuba had hit his sore spot. He pulled the ever-so-irresistible puppy dog eyes on his brother making him cave.
"Please Seto?" he pleaded.
"F-fine! But only for a night and one night only!" The raven-haired child didn't bother to say anything else as he watched his brother bend down and pick Joey up, surprisingly without a complaint. He carried the young teen over to the limo, opened the door and carefully placed him inside. Mokuba grabbed Joey's duffel bag and then ran over to limo where he climbed in the back seat, fastened his seat and set the bag down by his feet. Seto got in afterwards, closing the door behind him and motioning for the driver to start the car. When the vehicle was set into motion, the younger of the two Kaiba brothers looked over to the other with large, twinkling orbs.
"Thanks Seto," the boy spoke.
"For what?" Seto pretended as if he didn't know what his brother was talking about but in reality he did.
"For saving Joey," Mokuba replied simply.
"I did what I had to Mokuba, got that?" Seto said sternly.
"Well it was nice of you. I didn't think you had the heart to save the one you most despised."
"Like I said, I did what I had to," the elder stated.
Mokuba then turned to stare out the window, observing the dampened scenery before him. Seto, on the other hand was just staring at the nearly unconscious blonde-haired teen in front of him, studying the various cuts and bruises on his skin.
I wonder what could have happened to him? he pondered to himself, sounding almost sensitive to Joey's well being. He then instantly shook that thought out of his mind. He hated Wheeler. So why is it that all of a sudden he was concerned for him? It didn't make sense and at the moment he didn't have the time to comprehend it all.
Soon enough, the limo had pulled into the large driveway of the Kaiba Estate and when it came to a halt, both brothers piled out, Seto taking Joey with him and Mokuba grabbing the duffel bag. Mokuba rushed up the stairs and pulled the door open, holding it for his brother since he kind of had his hands full.
"Thanks kiddo."
"No problem big brother!" Mokuba flashed a bright smile and when Seto was inside, he promptly followed, closely the door behind him "So where is Joey going to sleep?" he inquired, looking up at the tall, blue-eyed brunette.
"Well, the only place I can think of at the moment is the guest bedroom right across from your room. I'll take him upstairs if you can tell the maids to prepare breakfast for him in the morning."
"Sure thing!" Mokuba nodded and ran towards the kitchen. Seto headed upstairs with the blonde still in his arms.
"I can't believe I'm doing this for Wheeler," he muttered to himself as he got to the top of the stairs. One of the maids who was coming out of the bathroom noticed him approaching.
"Good evening Mister Kaiba. Is there anything I can help you with tonight?" she asked in an overly sweet voice.
"No thank you Lisa, I'm fine," and with that he walked right past her and down to the end of hall where he turned left and walked into the empty room. He then gently placed Joey on the bed and grabbed an afghan from the closet to cover him up with. He sighed and then started to walk quietly out of the room so as not to wake his newly acquired guest. He looked back for a moment and, although it wasn't all that noticeable, it seemed as though Seto Kaiba, the Seto Kaiba was actually blushing. However, it quickly vanished and he turned back and started out the door and down the hall to his room. It had been a long day and Ra only knew that tomorrow would probably be even longer…