Author's Notes: I decided to update early since I got a chapter ahead. Looks like I can never set a firm schedule with my updating so how about this. I will post a minimum of one chapter a week. What day I cannot say but I will keep to once a week unless I get ahead. I also have a few other ideas in the works and I should be able to post a one-shot soon about Thief King Bakura. So you guys will have that sometime in the near future. I am also planning a casteshipping story because well this author loves a challenge. She also kinda digs casteshipping if it's done right so I will see how I do.

A note to my reviewer J Bear since you were anonymous and I couldn't respond. No this will not turn into conspireshipping. I can see where you are getting the idea but it won't happen. Mainly because Bakura and Mariku were, for a lack of a better term, fuck buddies and nothing more. You also missed that there are two other couplings that would need to happen: Tendershipping and Bronzeshipping and well…the hikari's and yami's just hate eachother too much for that. Maybe one day I will try to ship conspire, but it is near impossible with some many clashing personalities.

Okay I have eaten up enough of your time already so I will now let you get to the story! This chapter is mainly filler but for you stepshippers out there I do believe you will be slightly pleased.

Enjoy!

Unreal Truths

Chapter 13: Discoveries

Mokuba's POV

Yugi gaped at me and I felt the smile on my face widen.

"W…what did you say Mokuba?"

"Noah has been helping me run KaibaCorp Yugi."

"Noah? You mean the crazy stepbrother who was trapped in the virtual world by your even more insane stepfather, that Noah?"

I couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah that's the one alright."

"He's back? Really? Wow." Yugi scratched his head and looked down for a brief moment before he lifted his gaze back to me. "That's really amazing! How did he do it?"

I smiled, I knew that out of all my friends, Yugi would be the most understanding. He was really the only one out of the bunch who didn't seem to hold any sort of grudge against my virtual stepbrother.

"Well he was able to escape through a fail-safe backdoor and into the KaibaCorp mainframe. It took him a really long time though, because Seto and I implemented a really strong security system." I gave a smug smirk, "He managed to just slip by and make it into my computer."

Yugi blinked and his eyes were wide in absolute surprise, "This is just…amazing!"

"I know right?" All my previous exhaustion was gone now that Yugi had come and got me excited about Noah all over again.

"So, is he like, living in your computer right now?"

I nodded and began walking down the hallway towards the office, "Come on I will show you."

Yugi followed behind me rather eagerly and I lead him into the room.

"Noah?" I walked over to the computer and sat down at the chair. "You here?"

The screen flickered from black and Noah's face appeared on the screen, "Is everything okay Mokuba? Do you need anything?"

I smiled and glanced at Yugi before turning back to Noah, "Nothing is wrong, Yugi wanted to see you."

Noah blinked, "Yugi?" He tilted his head so he could see better.

I moved to the side as Yugi approached with a look of shock on his face, "Wow…heh…hey Noah." He gave a small wave and Noah blinked, looking to me to make sure I was really giving away his return then he looked back at Yugi, "Hi Yugi."

I think Yugi was trying to process what he was seeing; the disbelief was showing clearly on his face as he slowly approached the computer screen and slowly reached out to touch the screen. "I can't believe it. This is so unreal." He blinked then looked back to me.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I looked from Yugi to Noah.

Noah seemed to be in partial shock himself, probably because he didn't get ranted and raved at for what he did to everyone in the virtual world.

"It's definitely good to see you again Noah. If anyone deserved to come back it was you." Yugi smiled and sat down in Seto's desk chair. "I am a firm believer in second chances."

I saw Noah smile and his eyes shined with that inner happiness that I had been seeing a lot of lately, "Thank you Yugi. I do appreciate it."

Yugi smiled, "You and Mokuba must be a good team. KaibaCorp is still standing after all." He laughed and looked at me and I gave him a playful glare.

"Real funny Yugi." I gave an eye roll and crossed my arms, "Well we really ought to let Noah relax, he has been working hard lately."

Noah gave a light chuckle but didn't protest. I know it was hard to believe, but I knew from experience that just because you existed inside a computer didn't mean you didn't get tired. I remember when we were stuck in Noah's virtual realm I found myself surprisingly exhausted after all the running around we did.

Yugi nodded. He too understood how exhausting it could be and he gave Noah a smile, "It was good to see you again Noah."

Noah gave a parting nod, "You too Yugi. Maybe next time I see you we can talk longer." With that note the computer screen went black and I looked at Yugi to see if his reaction had changed any without Noah there to observe.

Yugi turned to me, his eyes still slightly wide from disbelief and I detected a hint of excitement within their depths, "That was beyond cool Mokuba. You must be purely ecstatic to have him back."

I had begun to walk out the door but paused as I heard what he said, "Ecstatic? Well…yeah I am very excited about it." I began walking again and pushed the door open.

Yugi walked up beside me, matching my pace, and gave me a sly smirk, "Oh come on Mokuba. You can't hide your feelings from me."

"And what feelings are you talking about Yugi?" I looked at him with a puzzled expression on my face.

He laughed and shook his head as we walked back into the living room, "You know exactly what I am talking about Mokuba."

I stared at him as I sat down in the recliner, "To be honest Yugi, I have absolutely no idea what you're saying."

Yugi shook his head almost patronizingly and smirked at me, "You totally have a crush on Noah."

I felt my jaw drop open and I stared at Yugi in absolute shock as I felt my face turn a shade of vivid red, "W…what are you t…talking about?"

Yugi gave that all knowing smile of his and crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh come on Mokuba, you got this dreamy look in your eyes every time you glanced at him. And if my perception wasn't off, which it usually isn't, then he was giving you the same sort of look."

I opened my mouth to respond but then stopped mid-breath. Noah looked at me like that? I swallowed and regained my ability to speak, "Yugi…I…-"

He cut me off, "I promise I won't tell anyone Mokuba. It's your little secret I swear."

I wasn't worried about Yugi knowing, I was just worried about someone else possibly finding out about Noah, someone not so willing to accept him.

I nodded and sighed, "Was it really that obvious?"

Yugi shrugged, "To me it was, but I am really perceptive. At least that's what everyone keeps telling me."

I ran my fingers through my hair and almost called to Roland to bring us something to drink before I remembered that I gave him the day off. Inhaling deeply I looked to Yugi, "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

Yugi nodded his head, "Oh uh sure, I will take whatever you're having."

I stood up and began heading to the kitchen.

"Where are you going Mokuba?"

"To the kitchen." I looked back at him, "I gave Roland the day off so I am the butler for today and probably the next few days as well. I can take care of myself. I don't want people thinking I am nothing but a spoiled brat who can't even make microwave macaroni."

I smirked bitterly as I walked into the kitchen and heard Yugi get up to follow me.

"No one thinks that about you Mokuba."

I gave him a look, "Come on Yugi. Be honest now. You and I both know that everyone thinks the Kaiba boys are nothing but little princes who can't do anything for themselves." I took in a shaky breath and put my hand on the refrigerator door.

I felt Yugi's hand on my shoulder and I resisted the urge to shake it off.

"Did somebody say something like that to you?"

I bit my lip and pulled the fridge door open and blinked in surprise. There was nothing in there. Of course not Mokuba you ditz, there is no Roland to go grocery shopping for you.

"Nothing happened." I sighed and shut the fridge. "Sorry Yugi…I don't have anything for us to drink…or eat for that matter." I looked around the kitchen. I really didn't want to go and get groceries but it looked like I wouldn't have much of a choice.

"It's okay Mokuba, I don't need anything."

I stared at the fridge for a few more moments, acting as if I looked at it long enough it would magically restock. Sometimes having everything was a major inconvenience, especially when you had to do without.

"Mokuba, please, tell me what happened."

"Nothing." I turned on my heels and walked back out to the living room.

I could hear Yugi scurrying to keep up with me and I tried to unclench my fists.

"Mokuba…is this about Noah, because if it is then I am really sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"It's not about Noah." I walked over to the closet and yanked the door open and grabbed a small stack of newspapers and magazines.

"What are those?"

I turned and looked at Yugi before slamming the stack down on a side table.

He looked at me then to the massive stack of papers before picking one up and skimming over it.

I watched his expression go from confused to outright horrified, "O…Oh Mokuba."

I felt my face grow hot in anger from the pity in his words. I didn't want to hear it.

"This is…horrible." He blinked up at me then began to go through the other magazines and newspapers.

The journalists and paparazzi had an absolute frenzy when they heard Seto Kaiba was in the hospital and his little brother had temporarily taken over as CEO. To them our situation was pure gold.

"I…is this even legal?" Yugi looked up at me and I snatched a paper with a headline reading, "Younger Kaiba Plays Dress Up To Fill Big Brother's Shoes" and crumpled it into a small ball.

"Legal?" I laughed and slammed the ball into the ground, "Everything is legal for those scum!"

Yugi looked sadly at me then down at the paper, "How could they do something like this?"

"Because they don't care Yugi, and they think that if they can slam me enough I will go down and take KaibaCorp with me! They think I am some child who can't take care of himself or a multi-billion dollar corporation. Well they are in for a surprise since I am no ordinary fourteen year old. Seto took over this company when he was eleven and he was more than capable of running it."

I ran my fingers through my hair, a nervous gesture I picked up from Seto and heaved a heavy sigh. I had never gotten this angry or upset over something before. The stress was officially beginning to get to me. I had to get myself under control before I ended up like Seto.

I stiffened when I felt hands wrap around my wait from behind as Yugi gave me a hug, "You've been doing a great job at running KaibaCorp Mokuba. Forget what all those people say, their opinion doesn't matter anyways."

I sighed but didn't push him away, "It does to an extent Yugi." I turned my head to look at him, "Our Company thrives on the people who buy our stocks and put money into our business. If they were to scare all of our investors off then they could effectively destroy the entire corporation."

I felt Yugi let go and watched as he moved into my main line of vision.

"Mokuba, listen, I think you need a break from all of this. This company stuff is really starting to drag you down an unhealthy path and I really don't want to see you end up in the hospital as well."

His comment made me think of Seto and my heart broke all over again at the thought of my nii-sama being so sick.

"Mokuba…" Yugi looked at me with wide eyes. "Come on and sit down, you look shaken."

I let him lead me over to the couch and then allowed myself fall onto it.

"There you go." He sat down beside me and fixed me with a stern look. "Mokuba I want you to go to your room and lay down and take a nice long nap okay? And when you get up, you are going to take a half hour and eat a snack and refresh yourself before pouring over your job okay?"

The conversation so closely resembled the one I recently had with Seto that it hit me hard somewhere deep down. I suddenly didn't have the energy or incentive to fight him. Feeling how soft the couch was had reminded me of how tired I had been before Yugi had arrived and so I conceded, "Okay Yugi. I will do that."

He gave me a firm nod and fixed me with a stern gaze. There was no use in refusing the gaming king when he got like this.

I smiled and laid my head back against the couch, thinking of better things and deciding to change the subject.

"You're right you know."

Yugi looked at me and cocked his head, "I am? About what?"

"About Noah." I fingered my locket and ran my thumb over the black oval in the center of it. "I have like…a major crush on him." I gave Yugi a questioning gaze, "Is that wrong? I mean…he is my stepbrother after all."

Yugi gave me a soft smile and shook his head, "Not at all Mokuba…Okay well maybe it is a little weird from an outsider's point of view, but really I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not like you're blood relatives or anything."

I gave a small sigh of relief. Yugi was the kind of guy who knew how to speak the truth but also tell you what you needed to hear. It was a rare skill I wish I possessed.

I smiled and gently let my locket fall back against my chest, "Thanks…" I chewed gently on my bottom lip before looking back to Yugi, "It was a shock when I first saw him appear on my computer screen, but after that initial surprise came a happiness so great that I realized hadn't felt that good in a long time. I know at first Noah was a complete jerk to all of us, but, towards the end he changed." I gave Yugi a firm look, "He showed a side of himself that hasn't been shown since he had been trapped in that awful place. I know I developed feelings for him fast, but once I fell, I fell hard Yugi."

I fidgeted and looked away, "It's like we both got a second chance to do it right and I don't want to ruin it."

I glanced back to Yugi to see him smiling, "I completely agree Mokuba and I am glad that Noah was able to come back."

I smiled and nodded and noticed for the first time that Yugi was wearing the millennium puzzle.

He followed my gaze and looked down to the puzzle then back up at me, "Heh yeah well Noah isn't the only one who is back Mokuba."

I blinked and let what he said process through my brain. "Wait a minute Yugi, you don't mean to say…" I trailed off and looked up at his face and he smiled at me.

"Mokuba…" He cradled the millennium puzzle in his hands as his eyes lit up with joy, "It's the Pharaoh, I mean Atem…He came back."

And here I thought I had the trophy for most shocking news.

Looks like Yugi won again.