The next chapter . . .
When he first announced that he was going to visit Kaiba at his office, his friends tried to dissuade him. before all agreeing that they should do something. When Yugi came in, Kaiba was not at his desk as usual. He stood at the large window behind it, facing out onto the city. His computer was off and the top closed.
"We, um, missed you at school." The CEO didn't turn around to acknowledge the other's presence. "But of course, we understand. I mean, with your brother missing, and . . ." Seto sighed impatiently at this, but then seemed to be waiting for him to continue. "Do you have any idea where he is? He wouldn't have run away, right? So did someone kidnap him or something?" Kaiba seemed to shift uncomfortably at this, and Yugi knew he had hit upon a near explanation. "So naturally the police are looking into it, and . . ."
"No," Seto said calmly, but firmly. His visitor started.
"Oh, but . . . then it's a company thing?" Yugi shuddered. "They must be holding him hostage as leverage to get control of Kaiba Corporation. Do you have any idea who it is? Where Mokuba is?" The CEO only shook his head in response. "But you're trying, right? I mean, in that case, you probably wouldn't want police involvement, but with your technology and staff . . ."
"Look, unless you have something important to tell me, I really do need to concentrate on my work." Yugi nodded, thinking he understood.
"It's okay if you can't explain everything to me. But by work, I assume you mean getting your brother back?"
"By work I mean that if you don't end the inquisition now, I'm going to blame you personally for causing the loss of Kaiba Corporation." Yugi frowned slightly at the harshness in his tone, although it was certainly not unexpected. It was obvious that Kaiba hadn't been doing any of his normal work when Yugi entered, so there was definitely something else going on, and the Pharaoh, trying to convince Yugi to let him take over, agreed with him. But it was also obvious that he would get no more information from the CEO at the present. "But you are doing something, of course . . .Okay, I'll go. But if you ever need anything, my friends and I . . ." At the look he received from Kaiba, Yugi decided not to finish the statement, instead exiting through the doors of the office. Seto sighed. A few paces out the door, Yugi, or the Pharaoh, to be more correct, determined that he wasn't finished with Kaiba. He walked back into the office and waited. Finally growing irritated at the CEO's silence, the Pharaoh decided to start right in with what he had to say.
"What is with you, Kaiba? Did you even look for him? Are you trying at all?" Kaiba turned and looked long enough to flash the expected disgusted glare his way. It hardly mattered to him whether it was Yugi or the supposed alternate self, the Pharaoh, that he spoke to - both were nothing more than minor annoyances in his opinion. But somehow he felt that he could relate to the "older" Yugi; his determination, the way he wouldn't allow anything to get in the way of his victory. Kaiba often felt the same way. The CEO's train of thought was then interrupted. The Pharaoh's voice had softened while gaining a bitter edge. "Do you even care?" The corporation president moved his chair back to sit as he started up his computer. His thin hand hovered over the stack of papers sitting next to his computer for a few seconds before coming to rest on the desk surface next to his laptop. Impatient, the Pharaoh moved closer toward him. "Maybe you think it's better this way – your brother was just a distraction on your way to world domination via holographic technology?" Seto stood again and faced the window.
"Is that what you think?" Yugi winced at the tone in which he posed the question to the Pharaoh. It was too conversational a tone for such a loaded question; he could tell from it that Kaiba didn't care about the Pharaoh's opinion, nor anyone else's. He was almost positive as well that he detected a hint of amusement in his voice. Neither Yugi or the Pharaoh could figure out the CEO completely, he never had, but there was certainly something wrong with him. Any other time he had ventured to visit Kaiba at his office, he had acted too busy to talk. Today, although his inattentiveness was much the same, he seemed distracted in a way that was entirely out of character. Even though the president tried to mask it, he wasn't himself. The stiff, arrogant, sarcastic attitude was still there, but the spirit, the passion lying just beneath the surface that he had faced in dueling Kaiba was missing. The Pharaoh's own ancient spirit fell as a terrible thought occurred to him as explanation.
"Seto," he began, one of the few times even he dared to use the KC president's first name. "Mokuba isn't, I mean . . he's not d . . ."
"Dead?" the other finished flatly, without turning to look.
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