WhiteAsukalover: I tried to update soon, but then everything died. Oh well, thanks for the review!

Lil girl pink: Um, can anyone say greatest response ever? "Yum yum, girlie." I think so, hahaha. Your review made me laugh so much, it was great! I'm glad to hear from you again, you always make me laugh and feel special!:] Thanks for the review!

Ash Kaiba: Sometimes I wish Kazuki had put this in the series too, but at the same time I like it because it allows for me to be as creative as I want. That's the greatest thing about giant plot holes or missing links; it gives fanfiction a chance to be a lot more fun! Thanks for the review!

SelenaKaiba: If you're crying, I'm doing my job! Haha, just kidding, although slightly not(I'm a writer, we aim for those kinds of reactions.) And your speculations were correct! Thanks for the review!

Lace Kyoko: Yeah, I hated it too. And it was rather confusing in the anime, even when they explained it in the anime, it made no sense. So I've changed how things go down a little bit, just to make things a bit more clear. I won't go further into detail, but I will say that you'll find out soon enough what's going on! Thanks for the review!

MythCreatorWriter: Yeah, well, I'm a writer. It's my job to hate my stuff, except for when it's exceptional. But it's better when a writer hates their work and has a reason for it, like I do for this chapter, which is… that it was really hard to write. But I won't go into it since I talk about it a lot in the author's note a bunch already. Don't be discouraged that my stuff has stuff you want to put in; there's no such thing as a perfect writer, mainly because writing is something that ALWAYS has room for improvement. There is always something to be worked on, and I know I have a lot to work on myself. You just have to keep at it and at it so you can get better. I try to have little details like that all the time so that it makes my story seem a bit more valid(to me, at least) I JUST WISH I COULD SKIP TO THE PART WHERE GOZABURO DIES SO BAD!o But alas, I cannot… for even the most annoying parts must be written to get to the awesome parts of a story;.; And in response to your question; all will be revealed in time. Everything will be answered at the end. Thanks for the review!

Nineteen

He was going to be truthful about this; he didn't really care. To put it quite plainly the thoughts that were going through his head; he didn't give a flying fuck about Mokuba. But Gozaburo had, of course, intentions of his own and questions he wanted answered. Gozaburo hadn't seen Seto in a while. This wasn't as much of a surprised as some may have perceived, for there was a certain reason behind it.

After Seto had proven himself by paying Gozaburo back and completing the task, Gozaburo wanted to keep Seto busy so that he wouldn't become bored or be lead astray. Instead of coming up with a lesson of his own, Gozaburo felt Seto was responsible enough to take up an independent project of his own, without Gozaburo's oversight. The catch was that it had to be something involving Kaiba Corp. itself, something that would benefit the company.

Gozaburo had given Seto a couple ideas; such as advertising, marketing, things that would bring the company business. Seto said nothing and seemed to have an idea already formulated in his head. He had promised Gozaburo that within a certain time period he will have set up a goal for himself, finished that goal, and would prepare a presentation to show to Gozaburo explaining his project and showing his progress.

This was why Gozaburo hadn't seen Seto in a while, but it still didn't explain the fact that Lector almost never seemed to have anything to say when Gozaburo asked what Seto was up to, just to get an idea of whether the boy was doing work or not. This seemed a bit strange to Gozaburo.

Then to find Mokuba wandering the halls with a tear-soaked face and no Seto to comfort him was an even odder spectacle. Gozaburo didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right and Seto had something to do with it. The only way to find that out was through Mokuba.

And so Gozaburo put on a smiling face and began his act.

"Have a seat, why don't you?" Gozaburo offered in a kindly, caring voice. Mokuba slowly walked into the room, looking all around in fear. He had never been in Gozaburo's office before and he had always been told to stay away from it. Being in there almost felt wrong, but he couldn't refuse Gozaburo's offer. Mokuba was exhausted from sobbing for so long. Mokuba slowly sat down on the couch across from Gozaburo's desk.

"Now tell me… what happened that caused you to end up like this?" Gozaburo tried to ask in the most sincere way. Mokuba seemed to want to believe his sincerity, but wasn't sold by it yet. Mokuba looked away and towards the ground.

"N-Nothing. It was nothing I just… yeah, nothing happened… I should probably go-" Mokuba tried to get up, but Gozaburo urged him to stay put.

"No, please, stay a while." Mokuba automatically fell back into his seat. He didn't know if it was because he had wanted to or if it was from fear of Gozaburo, but he did anyway. "Come now Mokuba, you can tell me. Why are you crying? And… where is that brother of yours? Why hasn't he come to comfort you?"

Mokuba's head shot up.

"He… uh…"

"Yes?" Mokuba didn't know what to say. He knew the reason he was crying, it had all been his brother's fault. Seto hadn't come to comfort him because Seto was the reason he was crying in the first place. But explaining his outburst of anger would only lead him to have to explain the entire plan behind why Seto thrashed at him in the first place. It would mean he would have to explain the entire plan. But Mokuba couldn't do that… could he?

"Mokuba… hello? You going to talk to me?" Gozaburo asked, seeming more impatient than kind this time, but he was trying very hard to keep his cool. Mokuba continued to stay away from looking Gozaburo in the face. How could he possibly think about betraying his one and only brother? Why would anything push him to doing such a thing as to go behind his brother's back and ruin his plans? Mokuba tried to think back to his brother…

'You liar! Take this kid out of my sight!' Mokuba knew why. Seto had hurt him under false pretenses. Seto hadn't even tried to believe what Mokuba had to say, Seto threw him out like he was nothing. Seto blamed him for Gozaburo finding out their plans, even though it hadn't been Mokuba's fault. So why bother covering up? Gozaburo must've already known, anyway. Mokuba looked up from the ground and into Gozaburo's eyes.

"Seto is the reason I'm crying, Seto beat me up." Gozaburo was a little taken a back by this. Mokuba was hurt… by Seto's hand? Gozaburo had seen the way Seto would take a beating for Mokuba countless times in the past… what would push him to do such a thing towards his younger brother?

"Why would he do that?" Gozaburo asked, astonished. Mokuba thought that the reason had been obvious. Suddenly tears began pouring out of his eyes once more.

"Nii-sama thought that I was the one who told you about his plan… he said I was the snitch! But I hadn't said a word to anyone; it wasn't my fault you found out! But…" Mokuba tried to wipe away his tears, but they continued to fall, "He didn't believe me… and he beat me up because of it." Gozaburo hadn't the slightest clue what Mokuba was talking about, but he was also the best at playing his part.

"A plan, huh?" Mokuba sniffled and looked away in shame.

"I knew it wouldn't work… I told him it was too dangerous. But he didn't care… he didn't even believe me then! I had a feeling you would've figured it out anyway… Nii-sama should've known better than to try and take over your company behind your back." Gozaburo's eyebrows rose. So that's what Seto had been doing all this time. He had a feeling the Big Five were in on this too.

The tears returned to Mokuba's face.

"I had really thought it would've worked… Nii-sama had said he couldn't do this without my help… I guess I was wrong. He never really cared about my happiness; it was all about getting the company from the very beginning." Mokuba went back to wiping away the tears once more, wishing they would stop altogether. Mokuba hated that he was crying over this, just the mere thought of Seto now made him hang his head in shame.

Suddenly, though, he felt an arm put around him. Mokuba looked up and saw that Gozaburo had sat down beside him.

"There, there Mokuba… it's alright. It's going to be okay… I'm glad you told me." Mokuba stared up at him, blinking with surprise. Was Gozaburo being serious right now? Never in his life had Gozaburo made such a gesture towards Mokuba. It was almost frightening, until Mokuba heard Gozaburo's calming words. "You don't need to cry, I'm here; I'll take care of you. Don't worry about Seto. I'll make sure he gets what he deserves."

Mokuba wanted to know what Gozaburo could mean by that, but he was lost in Gozaburo's kindly embrace. Mokuba needed a hug more than anything right now, so he could do nothing else but hug Gozaburo back as the man continued to talk. Gozaburo began stroking his hair tenderly.

"Yeah know Mokuba… I will most likely have to confront Seto about this when we have out meeting in a couple days… knowing him, he'll have to own up to this little plan that you've told me about, and I'll have to do what I can to punish him." Mokuba's eyes opened but he said nothing. "With Seto gone… I'll be needed a new heir to the company. Mokuba… I was thinking that could be you." Mokuba pulled away from Gozaburo's hug and looked up.

"What…?" Gozaburo smiled, brining Mokuba back into his tight embrace.

"It's true Mokuba… think about it. This is the most powerful weapons company in the world… and one day it can all be yours; the fame, the fortune… even this mansion that has been in my family for generations. Everything… will be passed down to you.

"The moment I kick that ungrateful brat out and back to the orphanage, we can begin our training immediately. In no time, you'll become an expert just like Seto. Only I won't need to worry about you like I had to with Seto… you're a loyal son. You would never betray me, unlike how Seto betrayed you."

Mokuba couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this time, Mokuba had felt that Gozaburo hated him. From the first couple days he had lived in the Mansion, Gozaburo had called him worthless, and told him he meant nothing. And now… Gozaburo was offering up future ownership to him? It was almost too good to be true; he didn't even know what to say.

Little did Mokuba know was that Gozaburo had no intention of upholding any of what he had just told Mokuba. He had been aware since the very beginning that Mokuba was not nearly worthy enough to be the heir to his fortune; the boy was far too dumb and not even close to being cruel enough. Mokuba simply lacked many elements that he required of an heir.

Gozaburo got up from the couch, deciding that a little silence to have his words sink in while he walked over to his computer and sat down. He got onto his computer and checked his stocks. Indeed what Mokuba had told him was true; people had been buying up his stocks. But Seto only had 49%, meaning he still had the upper hand.

Gozaburo silently chuckled to himself, thinking that Seto was a fool for treating Mokuba the way he did. If Seto had been smart, he would've known that 2% of Kaiba Corp. was owned by Mokuba, and since he had been comforting the mistreated boy, he was sure Mokuba would be on his side. The 2% was his for the taking as long as he kept playing the act.

Gozaburo wouldn't buy back the stocks lost. No, instead he decided to let Seto keep all of it. Gozaburo found that victory was much more enjoyable if there is an opportunity to humiliate the opponent in the end, it was the way he did business. He would let Seto keep all his stocks, let the boy believe he was actually winning, and then at the meeting proclaim the winner. Gozaburo couldn't wait to see Seto's face when he would discover his plan had been ruined.

Gozaburo looked up from the computer and over at the confused boy sitting on his couch. "Oh Mokuba… there's no need to be so sad, it's obvious that I have what you need. I promise to take care of all of this madness…" Gozaburo walked over to the couch again and offered Mokuba a hand up. Without thinking, Mokuba took it and allowed Gozaburo to lift him to his feet. Gozaburo slowly led him to the door with a hand remaining on Mokuba's shoulder.

"I'm sure you must be torn about all of this, after all no one likes to be in the middle. And even though this has all come as a bit of a surprise to me, it's nothing I can't handle, so you don't need to worry. Seto will get what's coming to him when we have our meeting in the next three days, I'm sure of that." Mokuba looked up.

"What?" Gozaburo opened the door for him and led him out of his office.

"Your assistance isn't necessary. But don't fret about it; everything will go according to plan. As I suspected, Seto has made a grave miscalculation, but with you on my side, he'll be out of here in no time. And then you'll be my next protégé. Now go on, go to bed, I'll see you in the morning." Gozaburo closed the door in front of him. Mokuba turned away and sighed. None of this felt right in his stomach.

As Mokuba walked down the hallway back to his room, he thought about everything that had just happened. Gozaburo's words were assuring, but Mokuba just didn't think he was ready to go against his brother because of it. Although Seto had beaten him up a few hours ago, Seto had still proven his love for Mokuba for the past eleven years. Seto had never let Mokuba down… until now. But did that mean he should still go through with it and go against his only brother?

The new heir to the Kaiba Corporation throne… Mokuba didn't know if he was ready to uphold that title. He wasn't sure about anything anymore. Betraying his brother seemed like a bad plan altogether. But what else was he supposed to do? Who else was he supposed to turn to?

Mokuba tried to see himself as the new heir, being trained by Gozaburo, going through what Seto did… a lot of it didn't seem pleasant. In fact, none of it was what he wanted. Mokuba didn't want to run Kaiba Corp., and he never had. He didn't feel like it was his path to take.

Mokuba began to realize that if he became the new heir, it would break Seto's heart. Seto hated Gozaburo, but he had wanted this company more than anything. That was the reason he had taken up this plan in the first place… he wanted to take it over and kick Gozaburo out of the picture. This plan was the reason behind all of this madness…

The plan; Mokuba started to have another realization. This was all part of the plan, everything, including his act. Mokuba couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. The fact that Gozaburo hadn't known, the way he was acting… Mokuba put his hand on his forehead. But was that really all it was? Would Seto act this way just for a plan to fall through?

If so… how could Mokuba still defend his brother after that? There were a lot of things Mokuba still had to figure out, and he only had three days to do it before their big meeting.

Mokuba walked slowly back to his room, where he would think things through, and try to balance between right and wrong. The moment of truth was coming, but until then… he needed to try and figure out which side he wanted to be on; or rather… which side was the right. It was going to be a long seventy-two hours…

A/N: Finally! This chapter is done. I've been forcing myself to try and write this chapter for the past week and I've got to tell you, it was hard(just a side note, if a chapter isn't fully written in a minimum of a couple hours and maximum of 2 days, that means I'm having a really hard time writing it. I'm usually able to pull out a chapter in a couple hours, anymore than that means it's trouble) So… the way this is set-up is somewhat different than how it is in the show. I'm not going to explain how or why right now, that will be reviewed in the next chapter. I'm sure some of you or possibly a lot of you are confused period by what's going on and I'm here to tell you that it's okay, you're supposed to be. I made it vague on purpose. But don't fret too much, like I said, I'm going to thoroughly explain it in the next chapter. Which might be a bit of a bitch to do, but I'm a writer, I can work it. Another thing about this chapter that might've made it somewhat… hard to follow, was the fact that I had two big characters interacting and I tried to dive into both their heads almost at the same time which kind of made it hard to follow. Which I apologize for, hopefully when I edit this, it'll be a bit more clear. If not, I'm really sorry. I actually didn't like this chapter because of that… everything was just confusing. Like I said, this was hard to write and there were a lot of aspects I needed to put into this for it to all work. But anyways… thanks for reading… again!:D