NOTE: No excuse of mine could possibly make up for the VERY prolonged delay of updates. …None except the very truth: SCHOOL. I'm SO SORRY. Anywho, please read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Wow…haven't written that in a while….

Chapter 21:

A Secret Revealed

July 19

"NEVER again…" Ryou rubbed his head as he walked down the steps of the beach home, "NEVER shall I take in a DROP of alcohol again. I must have looked like such a fool!" he talked with himself.

True, Bakura said beside him, but it was amusing! …For a while…. Then it was just…embarrassing….

YOU just shut up! YOU could have stopped me ANYTIME!

And lose the privilege of seeing you lose your once strong dignity? I think not! It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance! Bakura laughed happily…in a wicked sort of way.

Forget you, Ryou muttered, walking in towards the dining hall. He heard a small talking coming from in there.

"A…B…C…D…E…F…G…." Ryou poked his head in and saw Yugi with his head in his hands, bent over the table, obviously waiting for his breakfast. As he waited…he was reciting his ABC's.

"R…S…T…U…V…W…X-oh, hey, Ryou!" Yugi flushed and suddenly straightened up, "Mornin'!"

"Hello there," Ryou sat down next to the boy, "What might you be doing?"

Yugi's blush deepened, "…Reciting the alphabet."

Ryou sighed, I should do that too…just in case. But I've already made a vow NEVER to take another drop of alcohol again."

"Aye," Yugi nodded, "Now…where was I? …X…Wh-…" he stopped, blinking. "…X…Wh-…." Yugi panicked. "WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER THE NEXT LETTER!"

Ryou quirked a smile, "Why indeed?"

"Why, why, why, why, why!" Yugi hit his head on the table repeatedly. Ryou coughed.

"Z."

Yuki blinked and his mouth formed an embarrassed o, "Ohhhhh…Y."

"No, no: upsilon."

"Enough with that!" Yugi frowned as the door to the kitchen suddenly opened. "Hey! My breakfast is here!"

"'Ere ya are, darlin'! And what'll you be havin', hun?" Jessie inquired of Ryou. Ryou placed his order and Jessie left to retrieve it.

"So…was everyone out yesterday?" Ryou asked Yugi.

"I think so…except for Mokuba, Noa and Serenity. But Lord knows what they kept themselves busy with the entire day."

"Haha, that one still kills me!" someone whispered outside.

"Shhh….the others are still sleeping," another voice answered.

"For the second day in a row," another, higher, voice replied.

Behold, the devilish threesome burst through the threshold, looking at the back of a camera.

They froze when they saw the two older teens at the table. Mokuba his the camera behind his back and Serenity instantly let go of his arm.

"…Hello there," Ryou said slowly.

"…Hi," Noa waggled his fingers at them, waving uncertainly.

"Whatcha got there?" Yugi tried peering behind Mokuba.

"Nothing!" he shoved the camera into a pocket…though Lord knew what pockets were doing in pajama pants.

"Feeling better?" Serenity asked the two as the other three sat down.

"Much," Ryou answered, "That was a well-needed rest.

"Good," Noa answered, "Glad you guys will be back to normal today. IT was rather boring yesterday without you," the three glanced at one another, taking all they had to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Riiiight," Yugi rolled his eyes, poking into his scrambled eggs.

"You've GOT to be kidding me," Duke's face was contorted into one of humorless…humor.

"I was REALLY looking forward to going on the beach today!" Tristan stomped his foot on the floor.

His answer was a loud rumble of thunder that rolled across the sky and lightning flashed dangerously.

"If you guys would watch the weather channel more often, you would have seen that today is supposed to be stormy. But tomorrow ought to be fine," Tea called from the couch.

Duke slammed the door shut and stalked off grumbling, "Weatherman is right once in a blue moon…and today happened to be that blue moon. …Tomorrow's going to be stormy: just watch…."

Tea rolled her eyes and turned her gaze to Joey, who was sitting on the floor not far away, playing a hand-held game.

Tea's expression became that of Duke's, "Joey…just what are you playing?"

"Mad Monster Zombies 9," Joey bit his tongue in concentration, flinging the game into all sorts of positions as he played.

Tea sighed, "Will you ever act your age?"

"I am actin' my age! All da cool guys play dis game!" Joey replied, not looking at her.

"All the cool eleven year olds."

"Hey, Mokuba's fifteen, and dis is his! What does DAT tell ya?" Joey looked up at her triumphantly as he beat a level.

Tea's expression became even more ticked, "That you stole it from his room."

"Ahh…well…yeah…about dat…. 'E wasn't der! So…I just borrowed it fer da time bein'. I'll give it back…eventually. When he reappears."

"Where is he anyway?" Tea looked around. Noa was walking down the steps; Mai was slouched on the other couch watching the tube; Ryou and Yugi were playing Duel Monsters off in a corner; Duke had gone to moan and groan some more, and she supposed Tristan had followed.

Then again…judging by the sounds from the dining room, he was probably indulging himself in something that required his attention.

Or so she thought…until she saw him run past the stair entrance upstairs. She sweat-dropped. Then who was in the kitchen? Joey was here…Tristan was upstairs….

Noa suddenly noticed the noise and turned to Tea with a face of chagrin. He placed his hand over his eyes and stood there, embarrassed.
"…I'm sorry. …Seto hasn't had anything to eat for a while…so he got kinda of hungry. …REALLY hungry. More hungry than usual."

Tea raised an eyebrow, "…Kaiba eats like…Joey?"

"Maybe worse," Noa shrugged. "Hehe, it'd be a pretty close race I bet."

"A pretty close…race…" Tea suddenly got an evil smirk plastered on her face.

Noa then saw Joey and ran over to him, "Oh, hey! Is that Mokie's game?"

"Yeah…'e let me borrow it," Joey fibbed.

Noa furrowed his eyebrows. "That's funny…why won't he let me play it until he beats it then? THAT SELFISH CHEAPO!" Noa stomped the floor.

Joey sweat, "…'E…didn't let cha…borrow it?"

"Naw…" Noa sighed and sat down next to him, "Hey! You're past where Mokie's gotten to! How'd you do that? He was getting really worked up at this one level! How'd you beat the Slime-God?"

Joey beamed suddenly, "'E couldn't beat dat easy guy?" Joey laughed, "And ain't 'e Kaiba's little brotha! HAHAHA! I guess da game-mastery don't flow through each o' dem!" Joey laughed.

Noa's eye twitched, "I'd quit talking if I were you. Seto has rather excellent hearing."

"Well, he's off chowin' an' I don't see Mokuba anywhere around here. …By da way...where do ya t'ink 'e is?"

Noa shrugged, "No idea. Why should I care what he does in his spare time and who he's wi-" Noa stopped and ended there, looking away slightly.

"Wha' was dat?" Joey inquired as he played the game.

"Nothing, nothing!" Noa patted Joey on the back, "Come on….keep playing and you can show me how to whoop Mokie in this game!"

Joey's face lit up. He could never resist the limelight. He cracked his knuckles, "Sure t'ing, kid." Noa shook his head. Fallen for the bait…. Seto's actually kind of right…this guy doesn't have many brains.

But Tea had caught onto Noa's little slip up. She smiled in spite of herself. Mokie and Ren…sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love; then comes marriage; then comes the baby in the baby carriage! Hahahah! Like THAT could ever happen…though I do hope for the best. Joey and Seto would NEVER allow it though. Well…unless they either grew into it or… she snickered, those two really did have a baby –after they were married, of course…though how they would get THAT far…gah! Back on track…. Hehe, if they named the baby after their "beloved" older siblings. Haha! That'd be a laugh! I would pay my America-Savings to see that happen!

Tea snapped back to reality and noticed Noa eyeing her, as if to say, What are you smiling about? She winked. She hoped he got the picture.

Tea sat back on the sofa and exhaled slowly. It was going to be a LONG day….

Seto finished his third course of brunch. He had already had enough scrambled eggs to last him a week; five pancakes, three glasses of orange juice plus a mug of coffee; five sausages, two bowls of cereal, two pieces of two, a French toast sandwich and finally: four hash browns.

He sat back and sighed, content. Back home, the cooks would never have let him eat that much. Then again, the cooks were all women…who all worried about his figure.

But for goodness sake, he worked out! He wasn't about to let the fat and calories get to him.

Speaking of which…he hadn't really "worked out" in a while. He ought to do that soon…. Some push-ups in his room or something…maybe work at his martial art skills. He couldn't fall behind in those. Perhaps he would pick a meaningless fight with Wheeler and show him a thing or two. After all, Joey was brainless enough to take the bait.

In fact…that sounds like a very god idea to pass the time today. However, I'll wait a while. I did eat quite a bit….

Nevertheless, finished with his meal, he retired from the dining room and strolled proudly out into the living room.

He stepped into the lobby and found Noa with Joey, Tea and Mai just slouching on the couches.

As Seto walked up the stairs, he found something strangely out of place. "…Noa? Where's Mokuba?"

"Dunno," Noa shrugged, watching Joey, "Off in a closet I guess, or something."

Seto raised an eyebrow, "Now why would he be in a closet?"

"There are plenty of reasons I suppose. Not really sure though," Noa answered automatically.

Mai and Tea glanced at each other. He had revealed WAY too much already. That boy was walking on thin ice.

Seto narrowed his eyes, "If you see him, tell him I want to talk with him."

"I guarantee I or anyone else won't be seeing him anytime soon," Noa answered.

Seto was starting to get VERY curious, "And why would that be?"

Tea and Mai were suddenly up behind Seto, shoving him up the stairs, "Look, he said he doesn't know where Mokuba is, so you just get on your way."

And Tea lowered her voice to say, "Any Kaiba Corp. work you need to do? You can borrow my laptop-"

Seto suddenly spun around at the top of the stairs, grabbing both girls by their wrists and pushing them up against the wall to pin them.

"What is going on!" he inquired loudly, "Why do you all seem to want me gone so badly?"

"No reason!" both girls suddenly exclaimed. Noa looked up.

Seto glared down at his brother, "Where. Is. Mokuba?"

Noa blinked, "…I don't know?"

"Wrong answer."

There was a loud bang and everyone suddenly froze.

What was dat?" Joey inquired, looking around. "It sounded like it came from over der," Joey looked down the hallway towards the employee rooms and the laundry room.

Seto cautiously walked down the stairs. It wasn't that he was afraid. He just wanted to create a greater effect. Perhaps sneak up on whoever had caused that noise.

Perhaps sneak up on Mokuba.

Seto walked down the hall and past a couple doors until he heard something. IT sounded like something was shifting.

Joey, Tea, Mai and Noa were now right behind him.

Ryou was up in his room, looking over the tape that he, Mai and Serenity had made. I'm rather ashamed…. We've been downright sneaky….

Bakura rolled his eyes, but suddenly sat up straight. I sense…I sense action that I'm missing! Gah! Ryou yelped as he was suddenly overshadowed. Bakura grabbed the video camera and his tape, setting it up as he went.

Seto stood before the door, staring at it as if trying to figure out something.

"Kaiba? What are ya lookin' at?" Joey stepped forward.

Mai, Tea and Noa glanced at each other. …Those two wouldn't be stupid enough to make that much racket…would they?

Seto took hold of the doorknob and turned it. He quickly yanked it back.

Mokuba was a very busy boy. Very busy with his girlfriend, that is. Serenity giggled slightly as she felt his hands massaging her lower back…directly. No fabric on contact. Not that she didn't have any clothes on…Mokuba had just found a way under them….

And then there was the fact that she had been fiddling with the buttons on his shirt, gradually revealing more and more Mokuba….

Her back was up against a door, with Mokuba forcing…or inviting himself on her and into her mouth. Serenity all too readily accepted the invitation.

Nothing bad was going to happen…too little space here for that. But this was the only private space they could get: a place with no hope of interruption.

"Serenity…I'm glad we've gotten together. …It means the world to me that you love me like I love you…."

"Never truer words spoken," she whispered. He smirked and delved into her mouth once more, his hands inching slightly higher all the while.

Serenity suddenly felt her surface disappear and she fell backwards, with Mokuba falling atop her.

A definite pair of sharp gasps was heard. Four sighs and a couple hands hitting foreheads.

Mokuba's mind was reeling and in enough state of consciousness, knew he had better get his hands back to himself before a certain brother found out about it….

He whipped them back to his sides, but Joey was too quick for him.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! WHERE WERE DOSE HANDS RIGHT DEN! MY GOD! YOU WER' FEELIN' UP MA SISTA'! I'LL KILL YA!" Joey let loose, not even thinking anymore.

"You lay ONE finger on him, and I'll break you in HALF," Seto stepped in front of his brother. He was NOT happy about the situation anymore than Joey was, but he wasn't going to lose his cool either.

"DID YA SEE WHAT YOUR BR'UTHE'A WAS DOIN' TA MY SISTA'!"

"I'm well aware of what he was doing," Seto narrowed his eyes, "And I specifically remember telling BOTH of them to not get romantically involved-"

"Listen to yourself, Kaiba!" Tea suddenly stepped forward, "You can't tell someone to or not to fall in love! You can't direct people's emotions! Have you ever read a real romance story? Even though the two at stake are told not to see each other, they're always the ones that end up falling in love! I think both you dunderheads ought to get it through your thick heads right now that Mokuba and Serenity are an item now, and there's nothing you can do about it! It's THEIR lives…they can do what they want!"

Joey blinked, "But Tea…Mokuba was-"

Tea crossed her arms, "Excuse me for prodding, Joseph," oohh…first full name…that one hurt, "but just what all do you do with Mai?"

Joey flushed, turning his face cherry red, "D-Dat's different!"

"Is it?" Tea raised an eyebrow.

Mai coughed, "Sorta…yeah."

Noa saw it was up to him, "Look, you two, there's nothing you can do now anyway. This has been going on for a good time now…."

"Wha'!" Joey jumped. This was no news to Seto. Mokuba had specifically told him that he loved Serenity. …He just was not sure if they would end up as an "item."

"Well…maybe not THAT long…" Noa put a finger to his chin, "Actually…it's only been five official days…."

"STILL!" Joey waved his arms frantically, "WHEN WERE YA PLANNIN' ON TELLIN' ME DIS, REN!"

Serenity blinked, "…Judging from your judge on past experiences and now…never."

"HOW COULD YA DO SOMETHIN' LIKE DIS TA ME, REN!" Joey got on his knees and pleaded with her.

Noa began walking off, not looking back…much, "Well, Seto and Joey, you ought to start at least cooling down around each other now…because I can't imagine what it'll be like in future years when the whole family gets together-"

"YOU LITTLE-" Joey lunged for him, but Seto's arms shot out and caught Joey by the scruff of his collar.

Noa held his head, "I can already hear it…you two yelling with a background of kids running about the place-"

"WE TOLD YOU THAT JOKE WAS NOT FUNNY!" Mokuba and Serenity were suddenly up on their feet, aiming to strangle the green-haired boy. He took off, with those two after him.

"Wait…what joke?" Seto inquired slowly. The three froze, and slowly turned to face him.

"Ha…ha…ha," Noa laughed slightly, "Nothing really…just a joke from when you guys were at the party," he waved his hand dismissively.

Seto sent an absolute-zero glare their way. The room seemed to ice over instantly.

Tea looked back and forth at everyone, "…Okay, I'm officially going to lunch now."

"Lunch?" Joey's head shot up and a beam graced his face, "Why didn't ya say so?" He skipped off to the dining room with Tea in tow, totally forgetting the incident.

"Well that was no fun," Bakura sighed from his hiding spot, "Joey didn't even put up a fight."

…Yeah, short for this story, I know, but that's all I had planned for this chapter! Sorry. I'm trying to bide my time until…well, a few chapter from now. …Next chapter should start the big week-long section that I have, and then that will almost be the end of the story…we've reached the two-thirds point, can you believe it? Well, anywho, I'm sorry for the long wait! I know! It's been over two months…almost three since I last updated! I'm SO SORRY! Please forgive me and REVIEW! Thanks!