MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, I can't help myself. I mean, I think the second chapter of this story was just amazing. I mean, that was just a really good chapter. So it kind of makes everything else look like crap unless I come up with another brilliant scene like I did in chapter 2. I don't know about you, but Gozaburo telling Mokuba he wasn't a Kaiba and that basically he was worthless, I thought that was good. But maybe that's just me. My goal is pretty much to make them suffer. Although I kind of feel like my writing is a lot like my friend's Rena Redhead's stories, cause she has a lot of stories based around making a character suffer and I feel significantly inferior to her since she REALLY knows how to make them suffer. She calls them torture sequences, and her ideas make child abuse look boring and repetitive, hahaha. Anyhow, thanks for the review!

Lace Kyoko: Apparently Mokuba does sleep walk… hahaha, I don't even know. A lot of my stories are condensed of ideas that come to me on the spot/as I'm writing them. Only crucial scenes that are important to the plot are ever planned. Everything else is me having fun or just doing my own thing (just a random fact about my writing I felt like throwing in here.) I wrote a story where Seto's parents came back and we find out they weren't dead to begin with. I forget what the explanation was; I wrote it a very long time ago. The only thing I can remember was that it had a pretty good ending. Yeah, I don't think Gozaburo would subject himself to raping a child either. But anyhow, thanks for the review!

WhiteAsukalover: Thanks for the review! I think I've been doing a good job of updating, don't you agree? I just feel bad for some of my fans that I know love reading my stuff and reviewing, but I'm simply too anxious to wait for them. I'm sure they hate me for itx.x

KatrinaKaiba: Thank you! You're very kind. Yeah, sorry about all those updates to consequences. If you were reading the story, you might be happy about those updates too. I'm at this part in the story where it's just starting to get SUPER AWESOME, so I really couldn't help myself. Also I was re-thinking your phrase of waiting for the next chapter faithfully, and it's been making me ponder what other stories of mine you've reviewed to. I should look that up sometime. Anyway, thanks again for the review!

SereneShadows: Little scenes like that make my heart whole, I have to admit. It's what keep the fluff going through-out all the physical abuse that goes on otherwise. Lol. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Four

Mokuba awoke from his nap with a terrible feeling in his stomach. The room looked like it was spinning when Mokuba looked around the room. Mokuba rolled onto his side and suddenly the world seemed like it was bouncing up and down. Mokuba groaned and felt his head. It felt like there was some kind of war going on in his brain and his skull might burst. Mokuba pushed himself up and rubbed his temples. Mokuba didn't feel good at all.

Still, he felt he had to move forward with his routine. Mokuba got up from his bed, went to the bathroom, and went to go get dressed. When he did, he discovered he was already in his clothes. Mokuba couldn't even remember when he had collapsed onto his bed and fallen asleep. How long had he been asleep for? Mokuba smooth his hair so that it looked decent and walked out of the room. He hadn't gone far before leaning against the wall in the hallway with one arm and looking around.

"Nii-sama…?" Mokuba said with a quiet voice. His stomach took another turn for the worst and Mokuba held his stomach tightly. He felt like he was going to throw up. Mokuba let his body slide to the ground and continued to look around for any sign of his brother. "Nii-sama…" Mokuba whimpered in pain. He wished his brother was here to help him, Seto always knew what to do. Seto had nursed him back to help plenty of times, and Seto's mere presence always seemed to make Mokuba feel better in some way.

"Mokuba…" Mokuba heard a voice. Mokuba smiled; his eyes half opened. His brother was here to help him! Mokuba turned his head and saw Hobson standing in front of him, "Mokuba, it's about time you woke up. It's time for dinner." Mokuba frowned.

"But… I…" Hobson grabbed Mokuba's arm and forcefully pulled him to his feet.

"Master Kaiba won't hear any of it. He expects you to be at the dinner table at 7 o'clock and not any later." Mokuba could barely see where he was going as Hobson pulled him along towards the dining room. Everything continued to spin; only making Mokuba's sickness worse. His body began to shiver, while his head started to boil. Mokuba wanted to see his brother so bad. His brother would be able to help him. Seto always did.

"Hobson, what took you?" Mokuba heard another voice asked. He looked up to see Gozaburo seated at the head of the table that they had eaten at the night before. Mokuba blinked and shifted his eyes to look over at Seto. He was already properly seated as well; the expression on his face looked identical to Gozaburo's.

"My apologies Sir, but it was young Mokuba here that caused me to be late." Gozaburo's angry eyes drifted over to Mokuba. He shuddered when Gozaburo glanced at him. Although he felt it was not from his gaze, but the second turn in his stomach. Mokuba put his hand to his head and looked down.

"Well, sit the boy down so we can begin." Hobson nodded and dragged the boy forward and over to his seat. Mokuba climbed onto his seat with much difficulty, barely feeling the strength to climb up there himself. Gozaburo was beginning to grow rather annoyed by Mokuba's slowness. Seto was staring at his brother with an odd eye.

"Mokuba… are you alright?" Mokuba looked up at his brother for a split second before looking away and holding his mouth. He turned his head and proceeded to throw up over the side of his chair. Gozaburo rose from the table in disgust.

"Get him OUT of here!" Gozaburo commanded. Hobson moved quickly over to where Mokuba was and began to pull him out of the chair. Seto leapt out of his own seat and over to his brother's side. Seto pushed Hobson away and helped Mokuba down in a gentle manner.

"Mokuba, its okay… you're going to be okay, I'm right here…" Seto whispered softly to his brother, holding the small boy in his arms. Hobson was standing off to the side and glaring at Seto, Gozaburo remained standing and was about to restore order.

"Seto, I command you to sit back down and finish your meal." Seto looked towards his step father. He knew exactly what he wanted to say to him, but he knew it wouldn't be proper to say. Seto wanted to appear professional and did want to appeal to Gozaburo, but with his brother in pain, he found it hard to see his priorities straight.

"Please Sir, let me help him back to his room."

"I will have no such thing."

"What will it cost you to just let me bring him back to his room?"

"I have people that can do that for me, now sit back down." Seto knew that he needed Gozaburo's money and guidance to make it to the top. His mission was clear in his mind. But with Mokuba in trouble, his vision had become fuzzy. Seto didn't want to do what he was about to do, but he had to.

"No." Gozaburo shifted away from the table, suddenly all had become quiet between both competitors, even with Mokuba's moans of pain in the back ground.

"What did you say?" Gozaburo asked very slowly. Seto had to choose his next words carefully for everything to turn out okay. But in a position like this, Seto couldn't fight his natural urge to fight back.

"I said no." For an old man, Gozaburo was quick on his feet. In no time at all, her had ran all the way down to the other end of the table and launched a punch right into Seto's gut. A shot of pain exploded in his stomach, and then shot out through the rest of his body like an echo in a large room. Gozaburo remained still, his fist still in Seto's gut, as the boy lurched forward, eyes wide. He expected Seto to fall backwards, but instead, he took a few steps back and was still standing.

"Please let me help him," Seto said, one eye was twitching from the pain; and his hands over his stomach. Seto looked up into Gozaburo's face desperately, hoping the man would be able to open up his heart enough to let him do this one thing. Gozaburo stared back at him with no real desire to help Mokuba in any way possible, but he was interested in Seto's display he had put on.

"You can barely stand on your own two feet."

"My brother needs me, please." Gozaburo raised his eyebrows.

"Alright, you may go." Seto walked over to his brother and took his into his arms. He immediately had switched back into parental figure, whispering assuring things to his brother as he carried him out of the room. Gozaburo calmly watched him leave. Hobson stood still, staring at his boss.

"Master Kaiba… why would you…?"

"I think we can use this to our advantage. Maybe that Mokuba boy is useful after all," Gozaburo turned to Hobson, "Go on and assist Seto in whatever he needs. Cancel his lesson for tonight and re-schedule it for tomorrow. I'm sure he'll want to help his brother out more than he'll want to do any work." Hobson was a little confusion by his boss's tactics, but he knew better than to question his motives before they had become clear.

"Yes Sir," He said obediently before leaving the room. Gozaburo needed to be on his own for a bit. As a CEO of a weaponry company, an evasive plan of action always needed to be made before an attack. Sometimes a plan needed to be changed, a few assignments redone, but that never stopped a commander from delivering the final blow. Gozaburo would have to change his ways if he was going to have the heir he needed.

Seto sat by his brother's bed. Mokuba had already been promptly put up against a pillow, a bucket by his bed, water for him to drink, and medicine to cool down his fever. Seto had treated his brother before for this, and he knew all the procedures necessary to get his brother better. It would only take a day or two for his brother to feel completely fine again if Seto would be allowed to take care of him.

"How are you feeling now?" Seto asked, after brining his brother another blanket. Mokuba opened one eye tiredly and looked up at his brother.

"I don't want to throw up… but my head still feels like it's going to explode." Seto put his hand on his brother's forehead.

"Yeah, your fever feels a bit high. I might have to get you a moist cloth to get rid of that feeling." Mokuba exhaled when his brother's hand touched his head. Mokuba closed his eyes and smiled.

"Nii-sama, your hand is so cold. It feels nice…" Seto chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, the circulation in my body is shot… I should probably exercise more to change that."

"Nii-sama, why did you talk to him like that?" Seto looked down at Mokuba, his hand still on his little brother's forehead.

"Who?"

"Gozaburo…" Seto looked away.

"Oh." They had only been living there for a couple weeks now, but already Seto associated Gozaburo's name with endless work and studying. It was like how an old employee had a hard time going to a store they use to work at, because they always felt the displeasure of going to work. Gozaburo had a similar effect. "Well, you needed my help. I couldn't just stand there and let their goons walk off with you."

"He hurt you…"

"It was barely a punch," Mokuba re-opened his eyes and stared up at his brother. Mokuba could probably guess that his brother was still in pain from that last blow Gozaburo had thrown at him only a few moments ago, but his face looked totally relaxed. Mokuba was surprised at how pure will was enough to numb any external pain he would receive. It was one of the reasons Mokuba believed his brother had to be a super hero from outer space.

"You're crazy," Mokuba said, giving a little giggle. Seto smiled and removed his hand.

"Let me get you a wash cloth to put on your head. You stay there and rest, okay?" Mokuba nodded and Seto turned away. He walked out of the room and closed the door.

"How is he?" Seto jumped upon hearing a sudden voice. He looked up to see Hobson standing across the hall in front of the door. Seto gave a sigh of relief and released his hand from the knob.

"He'll be fine in a day or two as long as he's properly taken care of," Seto said with relief of as well. Hobson's eyes shifted down to Seto's stomach.

"And how are you doing?" Seto looked down at his stomach as well. The pain had suddenly become apparent and he pulled up his shirt. There was a huge black bruise already beginning to form right in the middle of his stomach. Seto pulled his shirt back down, slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable with Hobson watching him. Seto looked away.

"…I'll be okay, it's just a bruise." Hobson wanted to say something contrary, but held back. Seto was going to have to learn this lesson the hard way, and he knew that was what Gozaburo intended. Hobson had a feeling that Gozaburo was going to go all out with training this kid. He wouldn't hold back anything. Sometimes even Hobson felt there was a line of what was too cruel.

"Alright then," Hobson said simply. "I came here to tell you that Master Kaiba has requested to meet with you in his office."

"I need to get Mokuba wet cloth first, could I do that and then go to his office?" Hobson shrugged.

"Whatever must be done."

"Thanks." Seto nodded Hobson goodbye then wandered off to the bathroom. He grabbed a wash cloth from one of the drawers and turned on the water. He would wait for it to get cold and then rinse the cloth. Seto looked up as he did so into the mirror. It was probably the first time he had looked at himself, REALLY looked at himself since they had moved in the Kaiba mansion.

Seto's face had already aged so much. His face had become narrower, and the skin on his face clung so tightly to his bones. There were deep, deep circles under his eyes that looked like they would never fade away, even with a few good nights sleeps. But what had really changed was the color of his eyes. His eyes were dull looking, and instead of a bright baby blue color, they had changed to a darker icy blue color.

Seto switched off the water and squeezed out the excess water before walking back. Seto pressed his hands against his face. His face was as drained as it had looked in the mirror. When he touched his cheek, he could immediately feel his cheek bone. Seto shook his head and tried to put it out of his head as he walked into his brother's room.

Seto froze up right as he walked in when he saw Gozaburo standing by Mokuba's bed, his hand resting on the boy's head and entangled in his hair.

"What--"

"Shhhh… you wouldn't want to wake up Mokuba, would you?" Seto squeezed his hands into fists. Gozaburo had given him permission to talk care of Mokuba without assistance. What was Gozaburo doing here then?

"I was going to see you right after I gave Mokuba a wet cloth. I was going to do as you had asked." Gozaburo looked away and back down at Mokuba. Mokuba's eyes were closed and he appeared to be in deep sleep. Seto straightened his back and tried to look professional. He had learned that all relations with Gozaburo were to be from a professional stand point. Even the fact that Gozaburo was his step father was to be seen as a business relationship.

"I know you were Seto, you're a very obedient child after all…" Gozaburo said quietly, continuing with his petting motions on Mokuba's head. Seto was starting to become uncomfortable and anxious. He wanted Gozaburo AWAY from Mokuba. From his experiences, he had learned that Gozaburo didn't give a damn about Mokuba to begin with so any act of concern from Gozaburo was most likely false.

"Then what's the problem?" Gozaburo stopped what he had been doing and pulled back his hand, all the while keep his eyes focused on Seto. He took one step forward away from Mokuba and over to Seto. His face became serious. Mokuba could be heard turning over onto his side in his bed from behind Gozaburo. His back was facing Seto.

"I'm afraid that Mokuba is the problem."

A/N: OH EM GEEEEEEE! Here we go again! Or… well, not really… cause this hasn't happened before… but still! We're moving on with the plot! Which is always a plus. This story… I don't know. I like this story a lot, but I'm not very confident of where it should go. I have various things I want to happen, but I don't know in what sequence they should be in. And then random scenes like Mokuba throwing up happen and suddenly things are about to get ugly. Oh well:] That makes the writing all the more fun in my opinion. Thanks for reading and I hope everyone had a cool Valentine's Day!