Title: The Great Kaiba Manor Escape
Author: MyGhostJustYells
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters
Rating: T
Warning(s): Discussion of a car crash and the resulting serious injuries from it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters. They belong to Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, TV Tokyo, and other licensors and distributors. This is a not-for-profit fan work.

Summary: After being involved in a serious car crash, all Seto Kaiba wants to do is get back to working on his projects, much to the frustration of Mokuba, Isono, and his doctors. But there might be someone who can distract him and keep him focused on something else instead.

Author's Note: Written for the 2021 Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange] over on AO3 for dxmichelle. This was really cute and fun to write. I hope you like it!

The Great Kaiba Manor Escape

Seto Kaiba woke up in a hospital bed with absolutely no idea how he had gotten there. In fact, once he'd anxiously tried to recall this information, he found that he could remember nothing of the previous night at all, as it was clearly bright daylight outside. Unease and anxiety rose in his chest as a calendar on the wall informed him that it had been three days since the last date – September 30th – that he could remember.

Then the pain washed over him in agonizing waves, especially as he shifted his hip, and to his dismay he could not withhold the whimper of pain that escaped him.

"Oh, Seto!" Mokuba's familiar voice squeaked in surprise.

Seto struggled to ignore the suddenly-discovered pain in his neck as he turned it to find the most important person in his life.

Mokuba stood in the doorway, his expression haggard and tired, which quickly added guilt to the complex mixture of emotions developing within Seto.

"Isono! Isono, Seto's awake!" Mokuba called down the hallway before rushing into the room, unceremoniously dropping a sandwich he had been carrying on a table in the corner next to an unopened bottle of soda before hurrying to his brother's side.

"Seto, oh you're awake. I was so worried," Mokuba cried, tears forming in his eyes and threatening to start dripping down his face.

"Mokuba," Seto whispered hoarsely, his heart breaking at seeing his precious baby brother in such pain because of him. "What happened?" he asked, desperate to change the subject, as well as finally gain some idea of what was going on.

Mokuba reached out and held his brother's hand as he began. "You were… you were coming home from KaibaCorp. the other night, driving down the freeway. It was raining pretty heavily. The police aren't entirely sure what happened but you swerved to miss something. It… It was pretty bad. The surgeons can explain it better than me, but you had to have reconstructive surgery on your pelvis and your neck was pretty injured too. You had broken bones in your leg and arm. You hit your head and it sounds like you have a pretty nasty concussion. I… I was so scared. They didn't think we were… we were going to lose you, but… they're some of the best doctors in Japan and they weren't sure how well you would turn out. They still don't know, and…" He broke off then, crying quietly as he gripped his brother's hand tighter.

Seto could tell Mokuba didn't want to embrace him for fear of causing him more pain or injury, so Seto initiated contact, pulling his precious baby brother into a hug while stubbornly ignoring the agony that came with the movement.

In spite of himself, Mokuba held him back, gripping Seto's shoulder and upper arm tightly as he sobbed.

At that moment, Isono skidded up to the door and rushed in himself. "Mr. Kaiba," he cried, the relief in his voice palpable. "Oh, I'm so glad you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck," Seto said with a groan as he gently pulled himself away from Mokuba. "I understand that isn't too far from the truth?"

"Not really, no. The police are still investigating the crash, and they don't have much to tell us at this time, unfortunately. I'll make sure a doctor comes in to talk to you soon, but, well, um, I'm afraid you are going to have a long recovery period, sir. And we have a lot to consider, such as how matters should be handled at KaibaCorp., and…"

Seto cut him off. "We won't need to worry about KaibaCorp. I'll continue regular operations."

At this assertion, Mokuba and Isono exchanged a look. Isono looked like he wanted to say something but was hesitant to voice it, so Mokuba was the one who forged ahead.

"Absolutely not, Seto. You've been severely hurt and if you overdo yourself at all you might not recover properly. I can't let that happen, so that means nothing strenuous, even mentally because of your head injury. And that includes work. I'm the Vice President, I can run things until you're better."

Isono gave the boy such a bemused look that Seto almost snorted in amusement. "No, you most certainly will not. You're twelve," the bodyguard said bluntly. At seeing Mokuba's crestfallen expression, he added, more gently, "We'll manage together."

Mokuba offered a small smile at the show of support, while Seto's irritation showed clearly on his face.

He was fine enough, and he'd get back to work as soon as he could manage to find and steal back his phone.


Mokuba was seriously contemplating tearing his hair out. Seto had been in the hospital for a week now and was going to be discharged soon to continue his recovery at home.

Problem was, Seto would have access to all of his regular devices, codes, and secrets at home, and Mokuba knew it would be much easier for his brother to sneak in worktime whenever he got the opportunity. At the same time, he knew Seto was stressed out being in the hospital and was almost certain his brother would recover better at home. Plus, there was no need for Seto to continue taking up a bed.

But trying to keep the man from working even in the hospital was already giving Mokuba the worst headache he could imagine.

At first, Seto had been in enough pain that he wasn't trying much of anything, though he'd still managed to grab his phone a few times and send several messages using voice recognition. Then he'd started feeling better. With that came greater mobility, and then the trouble really started.

His doctors were already reaching their wits ends as he snapped at them regularly and barely listened to a thing they said. Fortunately nothing serious had happened yet, but Mokuba firmly believed it was just a matter of time. They had already experienced a major scare when Seto had tried to walk up and down the hallways for a little exercise before being discovered and there was fear the activity had damaged his healing pelvis, but luckily it was determined additional surgery wouldn't be needed. One of his doctors had threatened to quit, though, when he'd herded Seto back to bed and an irritated Seto had yelled at him.

Mokuba and Isono had contacted most of Seto's regular staff at KaibaCorp. in the strictest confidence, informing them of the incident, Seto's condition, and that the young CEO was not to be contacted with work-related matters until further notice. But evidently Seto had managed to contact other employees not on Mokuba and Isono's immediate list because someone had brought his laptop over when no one was looking. When Isono had taken that away, Seto had tried to hack into the KaibaCorp. network on his phone, which prompted Mokuba to change basically all of the login information. Then Seto had straight-up tried to sneak out of the hospital to get back to his office for a few hours. That incident had left Mokuba seriously contemplating if they could get away with tying his brother to the hospital bed without repercussions.

"Why is he insistent on hindering his own recovery?" Mokuba complained to Isono in the visitor's lounge as the bodyguard poured himself another cup of coffee from the machine. Mokuba sat, thumping his heel against the rug in irritation. "I can't believe him sometimes."

Isono sighed as he took a sip of coffee, grimacing at the poor quality. A large pile of flowers, cards, and other "get well" paraphernalia sat in the corner for them to cart away, including an obnoxiously large Funny Rabbit plush from none other than Pegasus. "He is… quite the difficult patient."

"And with him about to be released to go home I'm afraid it's only going to get worse."

"Sadly, I think you're right."

Mokuba stood and paced a little to settle his nerves, clenching and unclenching his fists as he did. "What can we do? I do think he'll recover better at home, but he's going to have to rest and take it easy. How on Earth can we make sure that happens?"

Isono looked pensive and also a bit uncomfortable. "Well, sir, we can't exactly restrain him against his will – that would be highly illegal, even if it's for his benefit."

"Not to mention I wouldn't want to lock my brother up in the mansion," Mokuba sighed. "But it's not as though he'll listen to me either – he loves me more than anything but he still sees me as his kid brother and thinks he knows better than me."

Mokuba continued pacing as Isono tapped a finger against the side of his face. Finally Mokuba stopped, and Isono looked up as he did so.

"I just thought of something so outside the box it just might work." He pulled out his phone and started texting furiously.

"Do tell, sir." Isono raised his eyebrow as he observed Mokuba's expression: one of intense focus with his tongue sticking out a little from the side of his mouth.

After he pressed 'send,' Mokuba glanced up at Isono, a devious twinkle in his eyes. "I know someone who I think will be both willing and able to help."


That was not the text Yuugi Mutou had expected to receive that afternoon.

The first emotion that washed over him after seeing Mokuba's text was concern. Mokuba texted him to talk about games and similar topics all the time but never really asked him for help or a favor unless something was terribly wrong and there was no one else he could turn to for help. Since all Yuugi had been doing at the time was taking inventory at his grandfather's shop well after closing, he'd responded to Mokuba's request in the text and called him immediately.

"What? Oh no, is he okay?" Yuugi gasped as soon as he heard the horrible news.

"Well, not entirely," Mokuba said, his voice catching and Yuugi felt his heart break with the knowledge Mokuba was probably only just now able to show his vulnerability and begin processing his grief because of all the other considerations he had to make and the risks he had to face. "He was hurt pretty bad. With enough time and proper care the doctors assure me he'll make a full recovery, but the issue we're running into now is… well, that he refuses to take it easy and let himself heal."

"I can imagine," Yuugi said flatly.

"So I was thinking, how could I keep his attention off of work, or his current condition. Yuugi, would you be willing to… come over every so often – just until he's well enough to go back to working on his projects! – and bring him games to play?"

Yuugi's eyes widened in surprise as he processed the proposal before that kind smile spread across his face. "Actually, that's a pretty good idea. Of course I'll help you and your brother, Mokuba."

"Oh, I'm so relieved to hear that! Of course, he knows how to play most classic games well, but he enjoys them. I figured with your grandpa's shop you'd have access to all sorts of new and niche games too."

"I'll be sure to bring a variety," Yuugi promised. "When is he being discharged from the hospital? When would you like me to come over?"

"He's being discharged tomorrow afternoon. Give him a few days to get settled in at home, then you can come over. How about Thursday, but I'll keep you posted."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I'm on break from classes."

"Okay, we'll see you then. And Yuugi? Thank you, thank you so much." Mokuba's voice broke near the end after wavering, and Yuugi's heart melted a little further.

"Oh Mokuba, you're so welcome. I'd never say no."


As arranged, Yuugi arrived at the Kaiba Manor at one o'clock sharp on Thursday afternoon, a full backpack secured around his torso. Buzzing in, he told the guard on duty, "It's Yuugi Mutou. I believe you are expecting me?"

"Ah yes, of course. Master Mokuba told us you would be coming. Please come to the front door and you will be let in," the guard's voice said through the speaker as a buzzing noise sounded and the iron gate swung open.

Walking up to the front door, Yuugi felt his heart speed up as his nerves briefly got the better of him. It was a lovely fall day and the trees displayed their brilliant colors, their leaves beginning to shed and flutter gently down to the ground. Had Mokuba told Seto he was coming?

Isono answered the front door, greeting Yuugi with a smile. Yuugi observed with amusement that the man still wore his trademark sunglasses indoors.

"Ah, hi Isono," Yuugi said with a smile. "I'm here as requested."

"Please come in," Isono beckoned him.

Yuugi entered and could immediately sense the tension in the house. Things seemed less clean, as if the house staff's attention was elsewhere. The few maids who hurried past them seemed harried and stressed, with uniforms disheveled and strands of hair loose and frayed. Upon closer inspection of Isono, Yuugi could see the man's stress in the hard line of his jaw and his tense shoulders. The phone in one of his pockets had been set on vibrate mode for the time being but Yuugi heard it going off at least twice over the course of their short walk. Maybe the man had a good reason to hide his eyes behind the sunglasses.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks, huh," Yuugi commented.

"You have no idea," Isono said with an almost defeated sigh. "He's never been this bad as long as I've known him."

His curiosity piqued, Yuugi asked, "How long have you known Kaiba, Isono? You've been at his side for a while now and I've seen for myself how loyal you are to him."

A soft smile graced Isono's face. "Not long, which I imagine might come as a surprise to you. He hired me around the time he began planning Battle City, in fact."

Yuugi searched his memory to put two and two together. "That Saruwatari guy was his bodyguard before, right? But then he betrayed Kaiba to Pegasus."

Isono nodded. "That is correct. I was hired to fill Mr. Saruwatari's role, but Mr. Kaiba also wanted me to help plan and execute the Battle City Tournament."

"That's a pretty short time to get so attached. You refused to leave his side when Dartz took control of KaibaCorp.," Yuugi observed.

Isono only answered, "I hold my professionalism to a high standard, but beyond that I do hold a lot of respect for Mr. Kaiba. He has been through a lot. Anything I can do to make his… challenging life easier, I will do it."

Yuugi nodded and did not press further.

Down one hall, a left turn, down another, and they arrived at a door Isono opened for Yuugi and motioned for him to enter. Yuugi did, finding himself in a parlor or library of sorts, adorned with a myriad of bookshelves. A pair of couches sat facing each other in the center of the room with a sizable table between them.

"Make yourself comfortable, and if you need anything at all, just let me or another member of the staff know."

Yuugi nodded. "Thank you, Isono." With a brief nod of acknowledgement, Isono turned and left the room. Now alone, Yuugi began pulling items from his backpack and placing them on the table in a kind of display to choose from.

It didn't take long – he'd just finished when the door opened and Mokuba entered, leading Kaiba into the room. The CEO of KaibaCorp. did indeed look unlike his usual self. He moved stiffly, with a noticeable limp, his expression occasionally transforming into a grimace. It was clear that even through the prescription painkillers he remained in not insubstantial pain. He was dressed in normal casual clothing, a button-down navy blue shirt and black slacks, and no injuries were visible, at least. His eyes, however, narrowed as they settled on Yuugi.

With a glance that frantically darted between Yuugi and Seto, Mokuba only mouthed, "Thank you, good luck," in Yuugi's direction before retreating from the room and closing the door behind him.

Seto continued to watch Yuugi icily, leaving Yuugi to break the silence. "Kaiba. I heard what happened and I'm so, so sorry. I wanted to help in some way, so Mokuba suggested this…"

But Seto cut him off. "Don't lie to me, Yuugi. I know Mokuba put you up to this."

"He's just worried about you, Kaiba. It sounds like you were hurt pretty bad and you're trying to push yourself too hard."

"I don't need to hear it from you too," Seto said sharply. "So what are you here to distract me with? Games?" he said as his gaze traveled over the items on the tabletop. "That certainly figures."

"Well, I'm here. What harm could playing a friendly game or two be?"

Seto regarded him for a moment, eyes narrowing a little, before he said, "Alright, if I must."

Yuugi couldn't help the corner of his mouth curving up into a smile as his plan worked. Seto knew he was being manipulated into doing what they all wanted, but even knowing that he could not turn down a challenge of any kind, much less one from Yuugi himself.

"I have plenty more games at home, of course, but I decided to start with these," Yuugi said as Seto scanned the available offerings again. "As you can see, I started with the classics, though of course there are a lot of smaller, niche games I've picked up over the years from the game shop that I can bring if you're up for something different."

"No Monopoly?" Seto said with an amused expression.

Yuugi gave him a sheepish grin. "I figured that one would, um, have the opposite effect of taking your mind off things."

Seto smirked as he looked over the other options. "I haven't played Backgammon in a long time," he said as he tapped the game in question with a knuckle.

There was something in his tone; nostalgia, wistfulness, perhaps, that left Yuugi certain there was a story behind that of some kind, but he didn't ask.

"Alright, Backgammon it is," Yuugi said as he carefully put away the other games and started pulling their first game of choice out of its box.

They sat down and began to play.


Backgammon went well. Due to the combination of luck and skill needed to win, Kaiba won four out of the six games they ultimately ended up playing while Yuugi won two, which left them both satisfied with the outcome. Seto must not have disliked the whole experience as much as he might have let on, because at the end as Yuugi was packing up to leave, he indicated that he was interested in playing Go the next day.

Given how there were no issues with him dropping by the next day, Yuugi did with his Go set in tow. As he was setting up the board a thought crossed his mind and he couldn't help chuckling aloud, to which Seto gave him a questioning glance in response.

"Oh, sorry. I just was really into a manga a while ago that was all about Go, and it was funny because the main character was also possessed by an ancient spirit who was really good at the game."

Seto raised his eyebrow. "I imagine such a story would have been quite relatable for you."

Yuugi laughed. "Yeah, it was."

The next day they decided to play Mahjong. The next, Seto suggested a newer, lesser-known game he hadn't played before. As they began playing, Seto asked, rather out of the blue, "Have you designed any games of your own yet?"

The question took Yuugi aback and he wasn't able to answer right away. Once he had collected his thoughts, he said, "Well, it is what I'm interested in doing for my career, that's true. And I have started on a few designs, with one that I've just about finished and several more ideas I'd like to get to eventually."

Seto hesitated, as if working up the courage to ask such a thing, before he finally said, "Why don't you bring the one you're almost done with?"

"Oh, no, I couldn't," Yuugi said, flustered. "It isn't ready yet. I mean…" He trailed off awkwardly.

Seto didn't press the issue as they continued to play the board game Marbleville Yuugi had chosen from the store shelves. "This one's okay, I suppose," Seto said once they finished a game. "A bit simplistic."

Yuugi nodded. "I agree. It'd be good for kids, though. Thank you for trying it out with me – this is good information I can give to my grandpa to help him run the store. There are so many that come in that catch my eye."

"Well I clearly have nothing better to do," Seto grumbled. After a pause, though, he said, "But you're welcome."


Though Yuugi, for obvious reasons, opted to favor two-player games, Mokuba sometimes joined them, and Isono even did on the rare occasions he could spare the time. It seemed he liked to be around Kaiba when he could anyway – Yuugi thought the man probably felt he was neglecting his duty as Kaiba's bodyguard by spending so much time at KaibaCorp. and not looking after his charge's well-being.

When three or four players were present, other options became available. They played a rather competitive game of Uno that got quite heated and spent several hours on games of the Settlers of Catan that quickly devolved into inter-player politics. It seemed one moment Isono and Mokuba teamed up with Seto to prevent Yuugi gaining an advantage, and the next Yuugi and Mokuba teamed up against Seto as soon as he had the most resources. They each won a few times, but Seto kept suggesting they play again, and it was only after he won one final game that he declared he was tired and done for the day. Mokuba was fully supportive of this and Yuugi just shook his head with a bemused smile, positive that Seto had just wanted the last win.

Unfortunately, Yuugi had to skip the next day because he had to accompany his grandfather to the hospital for a routine checkup. His grandfather received all good news, which was welcome, but when he returned to Kaiba's the next day with Mancala, the mood had turned anxious. Yuugi honestly hadn't noticed it until that moment, but the sudden reversal made it clear just how much the mood in the manor had gradually lifted since he'd first arrived.

"Mokuba, what happened?" Yuugi asked. He'd been allowed to just come in for a while now, but Mokuba was actually there to greet him at the entrance this time.

Looking at him with worried eyes, Mokuba informed him that Seto had tried to sneak out of the mansion last evening, just after dinner, to get to KaibaCorp. or, he suspected, even an Internet café – just anywhere he could access a computer and a network to work on something.

"He wasn't injured, fortunately, but… things came to a head and we got into a fight over it," the young boy said, tears brimming in his gray eyes.

Feeling a pang of guilt at the correlation of an incident like this happening on the one day he wasn't able to stop by, Yuugi said, "I'm so sorry, Mokuba. I wish he would see how when he does things like that it not only hurts him, it hurts you too."

"I know," Mokuba said irritably. "Sometimes it feels like it's getting better as we get older, but then something like this happens, and…" He trailed off.

"Do you still want me here today?"

Mokuba hesitated. "I really want to say yes, but Seto's in such a bad mood that I honestly don't think it would be a good idea. I'm sorry you came all the way out here – I should have called you earlier but I thought the situation might improve by the time you got here. Hopefully you can come tomorrow? I'll be in touch."

"That's perfectly fine," Yuugi said with an understanding nod. "Take care, both of you, you hear?"


The following day, Yuugi checked to see if he was still welcome and upon being reassured that he was altered his plans a little. When he arrived and went straight up to the parlor, he found Kaiba already there waiting for him.

He looked especially bad today. His face was contorted in pain and he seemed… sad somehow. Which was difficult for Yuugi to explain because Kaiba's expression wasn't much different than it usually was, but he just seemed… down.

Without a word, Yuugi slipped the game he had brought that day out of his bag and placed it on the table in front of Kaiba. Kaiba glanced at it and then up at Yuugi in surprise. "You brought chess?"

Yuugi smiled. "I figured I wouldn't win but that it might make you feel better. It sounds like you've been having a tough couple of days."

Seto inhaled sharply. "It's just all so frustrating. All they want me to do is sit around in bed all day, not using either my body or my mind. I feel as though I'm about to go insane! About the only things I have to look forward to are my physical therapy, because at least then I feel like I'm making progress on something, and…" He glanced at Yuugi and said nothing, but Yuugi understood.

Seto continued. "And I don't even know what caused the accident either! The police are still investigating. I just feel so in the dark about everything, unable to do anything. It's infuriating."

Yuugi remained silent for a long moment before he replied. "For what it's worth, I don't think you did anything wrong. I can hardly imagine what you're feeling right now, but I know you'll find your way through it. You always do."

With a grunt that seemed almost appreciative, Seto finished setting up the chessboard and bade Yuugi to make his first move.

Yuugi didn't win a single game they played, of course, but he'd expected that. Kaiba's improved mood when they had finished was more than worth it.


Unbidden, Seto disclosed at their next meeting, "The police finished their investigation yesterday and sent me the report this morning."

"Oh. Is it… good news?" Yuugi asked tentatively.

Seto looked up at him and the genuine emotion in his eyes took Yuugi aback. "It turns out I swerved to miss hitting a teenager who was disoriented and in distress. It sounds like what I did saved her life."

"Oh my gosh, is she okay now?"

"The police informed me that she came forward after someone recognized her on footage taken from a nearby surveillance camera." He hesitated, as if unsure he wanted to be so frank with Yuugi, before deciding to say, "I directed Isono to cover the costs for her care. I don't know all the details, but it sounds like she was in a rough spot."

Yuugi's instinctive reaction was to express his sympathies for what had happened and praise Kaiba's kindness, but he refrained, having some idea of how such platitudes would be unappreciated. "Well that's a relief to hear," was what he finally said. "And how's your recovery coming along?"

"My infernal doctors have said it's fine for me to begin working on my devices again, so not even Mokuba can argue with that. They don't want me up and moving about just yet, but at least I can get back to working on my projects."

"That's great news, Kaiba!"

"You have no idea," Seto said, straightening and stretching his stiff muscles. After a brief pause, he said, "Well, enough about me. What did you bring for me today?"

Looking a bit flustered at the request now that it was being made, Yuugi complied and pulled out something that looked much unlike the other games he had brought.

"This is your game you're developing, is it?" Seto commented. "Tell me about it."

With a bit of a nervous quiver in his voice, Yuugi began, "Players play as mythological creatures on a quest to obtain a magical gem. I've had the little tokens made – players can choose to play as the dragon, the unicorn, the phoenix, the griffin, the manticore, or for some flavor from our own culture, the oni."

"I'm playing as the dragon."

"Why am I not surprised," Yuugi teased as he chose the manticore token for himself. "So, after deciding on turn order, we draw cards to see what happens…"

Kaiba unsurprisingly picked up on the gameplay mechanics quickly as Yuugi walked him through them. In an exceedingly short amount of time he understood the game completely and needed no further instruction.

"It's not bad," Kaiba said unprompted after they had finished their first game. "Let's play a few more times so I can give you some more detailed pointers of how I think you can balance it better."

Yuugi nodded excitedly, "Oh, I'd really appreciate that! Thank you, Kaiba."

Kaiba only nodded in response to that as he set about resetting the pieces for another round while Yuugi shuffled the cards.

Over the next several games, Yuugi took lots of notes based on Kaiba's suggestions. By the end of the few hours they had to spend together, he had compiled several pages.

"Thank you so much for testing this and for giving me so many pointers. It'll really help."

Kaiba nodded. "It's a solid game."

The two older teens sat in silence for a moment, both knowing that this was their last regular game session together, as Seto was well on his way to recovery and now had other things that demanded his time.

Finally, upon deciding that delaying the inevitable any longer was pointless, Yuugi stood to go. "Think you might be able to make time for game night every now and again?"

It was hard to tell if Seto was smiling, but it seemed like he might be. "We'll see."

Yuugi smiled back regardless. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you around sometime soon, Kaiba. Take care."

"Same to you."