As Seto recollected his thoughts and began focusing more on present matters, Mokuba burst into the room looking rather flustered.
"Seto!"
"What is it Mokuba?" He shifted a glance over in his brother's direction, wondering what the problem was.
"Joey's leaving!" he exclaimed worriedly.
On the outside, Seto didn't seem to take much notice of this. But deep down, he didn't want Joey to leave. After hearing about what his home life was like, he couldn't understand why the blonde would want to return to it. But he wasn't about to tell Mokuba all of this, even if he was his brother. It would only worry him more. "Mokuba?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think you could bring Joey in here? I want to talk to him before he leaves."
"Sure. I think he's still in his room. I was just in there a few minutes ago and he was still packing. I'll go get him." With that, the raven-haired child disappeared from the room.
Meanwhile, all Seto could think about now was what would happen to Joey if he really did go back home. He knew his father wasn't exactly the greatest parent in the world and he didn't exactly trust him. Then again, who would trust a short-tempered, raging alcoholic with his seventeen-year-old son? No one with any common sense, that's for sure. As he continued to contemplate all the possible outcomes, he saw the familiar blonde-haired teen enter the room.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Joey's voice sounded almost dismal as he leaned up against the doorframe.
"Yes I did. Why are you planning on leaving? You know you're not well enough yet," the brunette stated matter-of-factly.
"And why are you so concerned, Mr. I only care about myself and my brother?" Joey retorted with a glare.
"Maybe because I know what your father is capable of and what he'll probably do to you when you get home. Why the hell would you want to go back?" Seto's voice was now slowly rising to its peak.
"Because maybe certain people don't want me staying in their house any longer. Yes, I know what you think of me staying here. Both Brianna and Mokuba told me. They said that you are only letting me stay here until I'm fully recovered and then I have to leave. Sounds to me like you aren't concerned for my well being at all. You say that you're worried about what my father might do to me when I get home, but if you're so vexed about the situation then why are you practically forcing me to leave?" Joey questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Seto was silent for a few minutes before he replied. "No one's forcing you to leave Wheeler. I only said that because I don't want you living here forever. I didn't say that you had to return to your father. You can go stay with Yugi if you wanted to. I don't care…" But before the CEO had the chance to continue, Joey intervened.
"See what I mean? You don't care. You said it yourself. You don't care about anyone except your brother and yourself. True, you may not be forcing me to go back to my father, but what happens if my friends don't let me stay with them? I can't tell them about my life because I know that they'll probably hate me for keeping it a secret from them for so long…"
"They won't hate you," Seto interrupted.
"How would you know? You don't have any friends so I doubt you would understand what I mean." Joey turned his head away from the CEO.
Seto hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Then it came to him. "Because friends like yours won't hate you for something like that. If they really are true friends, then do you really think they'd hate you just because you didn't tell them one thing? They'll understand that you never wanted to bring much attention to your life and will try to help you. I may not have friends like you but I know that they will never abandon you. I know that from Mokuba."
Joey was almost stunned for words. Did that just come from Seto Kaiba? The Seto Kaiba who hated friendship and everything about it? Was this that same one? He couldn't believe it, but then again, when you hang around Mokuba enough, his amorous attitude usually ends up rubbing off on you. "So you do have a soft side after all," Joey smirked.
Seto just glared. "Shut it Wheeler. Just because I'm acting nice now, doesn't mean I'll be acting like this all the time," he corrected.
"I could of guessed that," Joey replied with a hint of sarcasm.
Just then, it seemed as though the brunette's cocky attitude returned. "Whatever. If you want to go back to your father then so be it. I'm not going to stop you. But if you get hurt again, don't come crawling back here because I won't have any sympathy for you. You've chosen to go back so if anything happens you have nobody to blame but yourself."
Joey knew that Seto was right but he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. "Like I would even come back here," and with that, the blonde turned around and left the room, not bothering to say another word.
"Good riddance," Seto mumbled under his breath as he returned to working on his computer.
Meanwhile back in Joey's room, Mokuba appeared in the doorway.
"Hey Joey." His voice didn't seem to hold the excitement that it normally did. Instead, it held a rather dull sort of ring to it.
"Hey Mokuba," Joey replied, packing a few more things into his duffel bag.
"So you're still leaving?" the raven-haired child inquired.
"Yep. Your brother obviously doesn't want me around here anymore. The way I see it, I'm better off where I started."
"But you can't go back home! You know what your father's capable of and once he finds out that you ran away, who knows what he'll do to you!" Mokuba pleaded, tugging on Joey's black shirt, which was the one that Seto had leant him earlier.
"I have no choice kiddo," Joey said as he picked up his bag and headed out the door, brushing past Mokuba on the way. He ruffled the pre-teen's mess of raven locks and started down the hall. Mokuba eagerly followed, hoping to convince Joey to stay.
"Please don't go! I'll try and convince my brother to let you stay! At least until you're better! Just please don't leave. Since you got here, I've never had so much fun in my life. You're really cool to be around and I don't want anything to happen to you. Please reconsider your decision Joey, please!" Mokuba begged, tugging even more on Joey's shirt.
"Sorry," was Joey's last response before he slipped quietly out the door so no one else in the mansion would hear him.
"Joey!" A few tears fell from Mokuba's now faded glass orbs as he watched the blonde walk down the driveway and disappear around the corner. He then fell to his knees in bitter sadness. All he could think about was what Joey's father would do to him once he got home. He couldn't believe that Seto wouldn't let Joey stay in the mansion any longer. Didn't he care even the slightest bit about what could happen to him? He wasn't fully recovered and yet he was already on his way home, or what he used to call home. Mokuba then decided to talk to his brother about all this. There was no point in sitting on the floor, moping about what could happen. So he quickly got up and ran upstairs to his brother's room, prepared to tell him exactly how he felt about the whole situation.
Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba, who sat hacking away at his laptop, was completely unprepared for what was about to happen next. Suddenly, he noticed his brother standing in the doorway in front of him. But he did not look as happy as he normally did. In fact, he was looking rather angry and upset.
"What's wrong Mokie?"
"You should know what's wrong."
Seto was confused. He could tell that his brother was upset about something but he just couldn't comprehend what it was. "Tell me what's bothering you and I can help."
"I think you've helped enough." Mokuba narrowed his eyes into slits as he spoke.
"What did I do?" Seto inquired.
"It's about Joey," was all Mokuba had to say before Seto caught on.
Seto paused for a moment before he replied. "I take it you know what I told Wheeler before he left?"
"Yes and I must say that that was completely un-called for. You know Joey hasn't fully recovered and yet you insist on sending him back home. Why would you do that? Why?"
"I didn't force him to go back home. I told him that he could stay at a friend's house if he wanted but he said he couldn't. He didn't want them finding out what his life was like because he figured that they would hate him for keeping it a secret for so long. I tried to tell him that they wouldn't hate him but he refused to listen to me," Seto informed.
"But why would you even send him out in the first place? I told you he's not well enough yet. What's going to happen if he returns home and his father beats him until he's on the verge of death? What will you do then? I bet then you'll regret sending him out."
Seto continually tried to reassure his brother that he didn't send Joey out on purpose but Mokuba refused to believe him. Just then, Seto got an idea. "Mokuba?"
"What?" the pre-teen practically sneered at his older sibling.
"What would you say if I went out to look for Joey? If I find him, he can come to stay with us. Okay?" Seto didn't normally offer to do things like this, especially to help one of his own worst enemies. However, he couldn't stand seeing his brother upset and whenever he was, the elder Kaiba would do almost anything to cheer him up again, including rescuing Joey Wheeler.
Mokuba's frown then turned into a smile. "Okay Seto! That sounds like a great idea! I'll meet you in the limo outside!" With that, Mokuba rushed out the door and down the stairs.
Seto sighed as he saved what he was doing and turned off his computer. He then stood up from his chair and sauntered over towards the door. He continued walking down the hallway and down the long, spiral staircase. As much as he hated to admit it, he was rather concerned for the safety of the blonde-haired teen. He hoped that no harm would come to him; if something did, whoever did it to him was going to regret that they ever lived…
Luna, Princess of the Shadows: Aww…Seto's lightening up. How cute.
Luna (My yami): -scoffs- I still say he's a cold-hearted bastard.
Luna, Princess of the Shadows: Now, now, be nice.
Luna: Whatever. He's still a jerk in my eyes.
Luna, Princess of the Shadows: She's just mad because she hasn't got to see her boyfriend Nitro in a while. But on another note, please review and tell me…
Luna: Us!
Luna, Princess of the Shadows: Okay…tell us what you thought of this chapter. Ja ne everyone!