A/N: This is a long time coming, I think. If only because this is a chapter that I had a real hard time writing. If I can make it as simple as I can...its that this is more characterization than anything. Hopefully it's interesting nonetheless.

Chapter21.

Somewhere along the drive, Kaiba had closed his eyes. He was very uneasy riding in a car; his stomach was doing somersaults the whole time. When he opened them again, he could see where they were coming up on the Kame Game Shop. His head lulled to the side, and he looked over to Yami with both confusion and a slight bit of anger.

"I'm not…"he expected Yami to cut him off, so there were hardly any words prepared. "What is your plan?"

"I have none," Yami replied, pulling in. "I just figured it made sense to bring you here. Was I wrong?"

A heavy breath went through Kaiba. "No…you weren't." He replied. "I'm just unsure of what use your friends will be."

"They are friends of Jou's," Yami said, getting out of the car. Kaiba was tepid, looking through the windows and seeing no one other than Sugoroku. "Are you coming?"

Swallowing heavily, Kaiba opened the car door and grabbed the crutches from the back, steadying himself and catching up to Yami. He opened his mouth to say something, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Mai getting ready to exit. She caught his eye and opened the door.

"Isn't this perfect," she said. "Just who we were looking for."

Kaiba sneered. "I know about as much as you do," he replied.

"Oh?" Mai asked. She held up her phone. "Is that why I just got an interesting phone call?"

Kaiba arched a brow. "What about?"

Mai tucked her phone away. "Shizuka, Jou's sister," she said. "She told me that Jou had phoned her and gave her some obscure instructions. I'm guessing he was being watched when he called."

"Where is he?"

"The police station," she said. "I'm about to go down there right now and make sure he's okay. There's no one on his side right now."

Kaiba lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, frustrated. "Right, of course," he said, and chewed his lip for a second. "I'm coming with you. Perhaps I could clear this up."

Mai shrugged. "Suit yourself," and she went to her car, opening the passenger side door for him and getting in herself. When they were both in, doors closed, she looked over at him. "This is all your fault, you know."

"Don't start..."

"If you hadn't been so careless with him," Mai said. "I mean, Jou put himself out there for you."

"I am aware," Kaiba said. "That's why I'm trying to remedy this."

"If you hadn't been an ass about it in the first place, we wouldn't be here, having to get Jou out of this mess. I mean, really," she revved up the car and bolted out of the parking lot, heading towards the nearest precinct. "I know people get stupid in love…I just guess I don't get it."

Kaiba sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes once again. He was getting it from all angles and was trying his best not to make this horrible. It did hurt him. What she and Yami had been telling him weighed heavily on his mind, and his heart, to the point that it was almost difficult to breath. He brought his hands up to his face, and massaged around his eyes like it was going to help. Really, he was trying to hide his frustration and keep the emotional well capped. All that he had been through still hadn't left his system, and he almost was brought to tears just out of sheer frustration. He wasn't sad at any of it.

"This is where people say 'I wish I could turn back time' isn't it?" Kaiba asked. He could hear himself growling.

"Sometimes," Mai said, shrugging. "I mean, unless this is how you expected it to turn out."

"I didn't expect anything."

"Then there is no reason for you to be angry for the outcome," Mai said. "If you had no say, then you can't complain how it turns out."

"I had plenty of say," Kaiba said. "I always did everything I could."

"Always?" Mai snorted. "What have you done, exactly?"

Kaiba quieted, his hands lowering to his thighs and then clenching up to fists. "I'm not sure what it is exactly that you want to know. What have I done in the relationship? What have I done to help Jou? What I—,"

"Just tell me about…everything," she said. "Tell me about everything that's happened. Your side of the story."

"That will take far too long," Kaiba said. "I'm sure that Jou has told just about everything that needs to be told. "

"How he seen it," Mai said. "But two people means two stories."

Kaiba's arms crossed and she could see a portion of his old self hiding in the shell. She could see where he was thinking, or at least she supposed he was, without fully seeing anything at all. There was calculating, all going on behind stormy eyes. "We entered into a venture under false pretenses, and then we both mad mistakes, yelled, fought, broke up, got back together…."

"So…you're normal, then?"

Kaiba stopped, trying to figure out just what it was that she meant. After the few seconds of silence, Mai gave a mirthful laughter. "Sorry, I don't really think I've ever seen you stunned to silence."

"I'm not stunned," Kaiba said. "When it's put that way, then yes, I supposed it is normal."

"You guys just have this…chemistry. That's usually a good thing, the way they put it. But with you two, you're both combustible."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and closed them again before Mai got a good look at him. There was only so much that he wanted to share with her, if only because the intimacy wasn't her business. The things in the bedroom were left in the bedroom. "Do you regret?"

"Regret what?" Kaiba asked.

"Anything. Anything you would have changed?"

Once again, there was silence. For the moments, Kaiba seemed to have fallen back into how he was, with his eyes slightly wide and unblinking. "No. Not a thing."

"And you would tell Jou that?"

"Yes. Without a doubt," he answered curtly.

"After telling me that you two fought and that you've broken up. There's nothing you would change about yourself; nothing you'd want to change in him? Nothing you'd want to reverse. No—,"

"My words are clear," Kaiba said. "Or at least I believed they were. No, I do not need to change anything. If I did…then none of this would have happened. We wouldn't be here."

"But that's the problem!" she yelled. Kaiba gave her a sharp, sideways gaze. For a second, Mai saw all that was scary about Kaiba. The arrogant, taciturn boss and the demanding man that often people feared simply because that look could send them to their knees. There was no more calculating in him. His eyes were no longer stormy in thought.

"I suppose that exposing oneself to others is a problem. I don't think I need to tell you anymore." Kaiba said. It was Mai's turn to be silent. "We should be there soon."

"Yeah."

Part of Mai didn't know whether she should have faith in Kaiba, or be afraid of the thing that he was becoming. He was like a half thawed piece of meat. Part of him was ready, and seemed alright to the touch, but the rest was frigid and unusable.

"Any other questions?" Kaiba asked.

Mai flinched. "No, I think I got my answers."

It was around that time that she was able to pull up to the police precinct, and she saw the way Kaiba examined it thoroughly. As if he was a criminal trying to figure out the best angle to break in. Once her car came to a halt, Kaiba opened the door and grabbed the crutches, getting out to steady himself. A few officers were walking up to the building, and they stalled when Kaiba raised his head towards the door. They were whispering to each other as they went inside.

Before she could realize, Kaiba was already paces ahead of her. Mai clomped up in her heels to follow, thinking about how he almost had it to an art form being able to move despite the disability. Narrowly, she got ahead of him and held the door for Kaiba to get through. She wasn't sure if what she saw was resolve or anger.

Inside, Kaiba stood just before the front desk. Mai expected leaning or yelling or at least bracing himself against the desk. Instead, she found him in a state of repose. "Can I help you?" the man at the desk asked. He was chewing slowly, but upon seeing Kaiba, he stopped and swallowed.

"I'm looking for Jounouchi Katsuya," he said. "I was told he was here."

"He was," the man replied.

"Was? What do you mean?" Kaiba asked. His voice raised above hollow annoyance.

"He was escorted out of a here a little while ago. Following procedures."

"What!" Kaiba grit his teeth. He finally did lean, bending at the waist slightly to get closer to the man. The man seemed to move further back, intimidated. "He has done nothing wrong and should be released."

"I…I'm not at the liberty to do or tell you anything, Kaiba-san," the desk officer said. He cleared his throat and leaned forward again, determined not to let Kaiba get the better of him.

"Then you're station chief may be able to help me."

Mai put her hand on Kaiba's shoulder. Immediately, he flinched and rolled it off, looking back at her with almost wild and vicious eyes. Her hand went under her arm immediately. "I want the charges against him dropped. My brother, whom this case is about, is not in any danger currently and Jounouchi-san did not take him."

"I'm very sorry Kaiba-san. I will get ahold of my chief and see if there is anything that can be done."

It was the middle of the road answer that made Kaiba angry, but he tried to curb it. His image had suffered enough and was barely useful, if only to make him look crazier than before. The desk officer stood up and started to creep away from the desk and towards the back, talking another officer as he walked.

Once it was in motion, Kaiba moved out of the way, but he never sat. It was like Mai could see the nervous tension that was in Kaiba just by the way that he refused to sit. He stood erect, keeping balance between the crutches and his looped ankle.

"You wanna sit?"

Kaiba shook his head. "I'm not sitting. This should be quick enough."

Mai wasn't entirely sure how to approach Kaiba and make things simple. "Look, I didn't mean to touch you."

"Spare me," Kaiba waved his hand, lowering it back to stabilize himself. "I've been through enough of all this. I just want it to end."

"We'll get it done," she said, determined. "Shizuka-chan is on the move, and we'll get Jou back."

"Where's is the Jounouchi sister going?" Kaiba asked.

Mai bit her lip, and she looked around the police station. "That's the problem. She was given obscure directions, and she hasn't given me anything else. I don't know where she's going or…what's she's doing with Mokuba."

Kaiba's head lowered, and Mai could see the frustration growing on his face as his teeth bared and his eyes closed. Suddenly, there was a released, and it seemed like he took a deep breath and let it out, standing straight up again.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine," said Kaiba. "I just need to relax."

This was obvious; since she was sure Kaiba hadn't relaxed in months. Unfortunately, she had to add fuel to the fire. "She also said something about getting Jou a lawyer," said Mai. "Just in case."

"That can be handled." Finally, Kaiba went over and sat so that he could pull out his phone. Mai followed but stayed standing up. Either the desk officer or the station chief would have to come out sometime.

The car ride back to Domino was too quiet. It was almost as if a ghost was in Shizuka's passenger seat instead of a slumped over Mokuba. His breath was making fog in the windows, expanding and contracting as he breathed. His hand, every so often, was going up to his chest, landing over the indention that the locket made in his clothes.

Sometimes, Shizuka had to remember that Mokuba was fifteen. He wasn't the child that she remembered seeing so long ago, tailing his brother faithfully. Yet, even at his age, she could still see that child lingering in Mokuba. As if the younger Kaiba had no direction or purpose if separated from his sibling.

Even her and Jou's bond wasn't that strong. "Mokuba…?" Shizuka asked. The prompt warranted some movement. "I was thinking of dropping you off with Anzu. She…wouldn't be home as much as I am, but it would be a nice place to stay."

Out of the corner of her eye, Shizuka saw where Mokuba shifted to get a better look at her, but then he looked back out the window. "Okay…"he said. His hands folded together in his lap. "That sounds okay."

All the while, Mokuba was looking out the front windshield at the road that stretched between Tokyo and Domino. He remembered how many times he and Kaiba had driven down it for conferences and expositions. "Nii-sama was teaching me to drive."

"Oh?"

"Yeah…he started a bit ago. And we had to stop because of reporters."

"That's a shame," said Shizuka. "You haven't been out since?"

"No…we've meant to," Mokuba said. "I want him to teach me. He's taught me everything else. But I guess maybe someone else should be teaching me besides him. Since his…accident got us all into this." Once again, Mokuba was resting soundly against the window. "But I still want him to teach me. There were so many dreams we had…you know? Like, with the amusement park." Mokuba took a breath, like it was hard to say. "I always remember times when nii-sama had been up two…three days. He was running on coffee and probably other things. He would drive this road home. I always told him that when I was old enough, I would do the driving so he could rest."

"That's so sweet," said Shizuka. She could imagine a ghostly Kaiba sitting slightly slumped in the driver's seat. His eyes having rings around them, and his mouth twitching slightly. An empty Styrofoam cup would be sitting in the console, and beside him Mokuba would be antsy and ready to get home. It made her smile.

"Yeah…"Mokuba smiled a bit too. "I still hope for that."

"I'm sure it will happen." Shizuka almost didn't want to see as Domino rose from the horizon. She liked having Mokuba close and knowing that he was safe in arms' reach. Especially for her own brother's sake.

"It will," Mokuba said, resolved. "I don't want to go to Anzu's."

"Mokuba…it's what's best."

"I want to see my nii-sama. I can't keep doing this…this is all just too crazy! This is making him worse!"

"I…" Shizuka looked at the roads. She caught sight of the strip mall that she was supposed to be meeting Anzu in. She drove right by it. "Alright, tell me where he is."

There was a surprisingly small amount of time between when the officers took Jou for the second interrogation and then decided to take him to the prosecutor's office. It made something in Jou's stomach sink when he thought about it. What kind of evidence did they find? Were they able to interpret his phone conversation with his sister? Even though Jou had done his utmost to cover his tracks, he was well aware that there were probably things that he wasn't thinking about. Things that h couldn't think about even as they led him to the prosecutor.

His wrists were in chains, although they were held in front of him for the safety of appearances. The officers that were escorting him were different than the officers who had been interrogating him. They spoke hushed, giving him quiet orders.

"Pretty busted up…not too odd."

"Yeah," the second said. "That happens when you put criminals together."

Even if Jou were more simple-minded (as simple-minded as Kaiba often thought he was) he could that the officers were attempting to give a story for his cuts and bruises. Jou didn't mind. It was a good laugh.

He was sat down in a bland room, and he was left with one officer in the room and one officer out. He was waiting for the prosecutor, but in the meanwhile his hands went up to his nose and he pinched it, moving it until water started prickling in his eyes. There was a piece that he could feel. He pressed his thumb down on it, despite the pain, until it popped back into place. "Ngh…"

The officer looked at him strangely, but didn't get a chance to say anything when the door was opened. A woman in a light grey pants suit came through and set a briefcase on the table. "Hello, Jounouchi-san. I am prosecutor Wakabayashi."

"Don't I get a lawyer present here?" Jou asked.

"I'm just going over a bit of fact checking before I decide if I want to proceed to trial or not." She said. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No…thanks," Jou slumped back in his seat. "Look, we both know where tis's goin'."

"I'm sorry?" she looked up from the paperwork. "How do you mean?"

"This is all gonna to turn into some big spectacle because it's got Kaiba involved," Jou said. "It draws people."

"You mean to say we're going to drag you through the mud for a little public interest?" the prosecutor asked. "Is that the kind of press that you want at Kaiba-san's expense?"

"I want nothin'. I want Mokuba safe, that's 'bout it."

"Well good. We both want the same thing out of this," she said. Folding her hands together, the woman leaned forward. "You look like a good man despite your record. And this whole mess seems to be poorly put together. But…unfortunately, there are still consequences. You are the only person close enough to Mokuba, and the only one with enough motives to want to take him."

"So? That don't mean nothin'. So could a bunch o' other people."

The prosecutor had a strange smile, and it was making Jou very uneasy. That and her very sharp bob cut. "Jounouchi-san, I'm going to lay this out as simply as possible so that we can avoid all the name-dragging. I'm going to offer you a light sentence in exchange for telling us where Kaiba Mokuba is. Kaiba-san has been suffering enough due to his brother's absence. I believe it is time to let him go."

The trouble was that she had Jou going. Wakabayashi's words were drilling into Jou because it was as if she was weeding her way back into his mind and seeing all that was going on and what was making him tick. Then again, Jou was sure that even if he hadn't stashed Mokuba away somewhere she would have made him feel this way. When Jou considered Kaiba's suffering, and imagining him the last time that he had seen him in the hospital bed…it made the corners of his mouth drop.

Jou sighed. At that, the prosecutor and the officer leaned in to listen to his words. And they likely would have heard them if there wasn't a knocking at the door. Wakabayashi turned to see a clean cut man walk through the door. "Hello, sorry to come in the middle," he said. Wakabayashi stood and they bowed, respectively, before the man walked over to Jou. "Hello, Jounouchi-san. I'm Hatake Akira. Kaiba-sama sent me to be your counsel."

"'Bout time…"Jou said, stunned. He raised his hand, noticed the blood, and wiped it on his pants before raising it again to shake the man's hand.

"Now, I think it's about time you shut up. Kaiba-san's orders." Jou laughed.

Hatake looked to Wakabayashi, finally addressing her. "I think that this is all a misunderstanding and that you should be looking for other suspects."

"This isn't a trial," Wakabayashi countered. "This is a decision to go to trial. I have already made my determination."

"No charges were filed," said Hatake. "Especially none by Kaiba Seto-san."

Wakabayashi almost blanched, but the strange smile came back. "Kaiba-san was, unfortunately deemed unfit to make the decision. The state made it for his best interest. We are going to trial. This is end of this matter. Jounouchi-san will be detained until then. Leniency may be given if he decides to hand over Mokuba."

"I think you will find that Kaiba-san is perfectly within his senses," Hatake said. "He's waiting, and I don't think you want to get a bad image when he gets involved in this farce."

Jou couldn't believe that they were arguing Kaiba's sanity. If either of them truly knew Kaiba, they would know that he was never 'in his senses'. But that was all a matter of perspective.

"His senses will be up for the state doctors to decide. Until then, the suspect will be in further detention."

Jou boiled when thinking of going back. "What are ya? Some fangirl who couldn't get with Kaib'? Huh?"

Wakabayashi had turned to leave, but she turned back and leaned in close. "Cards can't save you from this, Jounouchi-san."

Mai had lost track of time and had started to fall asleep while still in the police station. The stillness was broken by her phone ringing against her thigh. She pulled it out and noticed that it was Shizuka again. "Hey, Shizuka. Did you get him there safe?"

"No…I want to know where Kaiba is."

Mai blinked, alarmed. "Why?"

"Because Mokuba asked," Shizuka replied. "I'm in Domino. I can find out where I need to go, just tell me where he is."

"He's…"Mai looked over and saw where Kaiba was engrossed in a battle with the station chief just through slatted blinds. "Well, he's with me."

"And where are you?"

Mai bit her lip. "We're at the police station. He can't wait just a little longer? We're trying to get Jou out and then all of this will be cleared up."

"Mai…if I could stop Mokuba, I would. It's not going to happen…he wants his brother. He wants all of this to stop."

"Alright…we're at the police station. You remember where that it?" Mai asked. Her heel was tapping nervously on the tile the entire time. She was convinced that Kaiba was going to come walking out of the office any moment and overhear her.

"Yeah…I remember. I'll be there soon."

They said their goodbyes. When Mai hung up, she pressed her phone between her palms and leaned forward, eyes drifting over to the door every so often. Kaiba had been with the station chief too long; either something was going right, or something was going terribly wrong.

Moments after thinking that, Kaiba was tottering out of the office with the station chief standing behind him. Kaiba looked pleased, at the very least. "I'm sorry for all the trouble, Kaiba-san," said the chief. "We'll see if we can't get ahold of the prosecutor's office."

"See that you do," Kaiba said, and went back over to settle. Mai had never left her post on the chair, and her lips were pursed slightly. "So…that went well then?" she asked.

"We have to wait for Jou to arrive back." Kaiba said.

"How long would that take?"

"Not very."

His arms folded over one another, and Mai could notice the way that he was rubbing at his upper arms in a circular motion. He only did it for a moment before his hands disappearing into his elbows. "Crutches starting to hurt?"

"I'm fine," said Kaiba. "It's just been some time."

"How much longer you think you'll be on crutches?" she looked out the window of the station, waiting for Shizuka's car to pull up. It didn't surprise her that Kaiba didn't answer her. He had lulled somewhere else into his mind, and she didn't exist. His eyes were open, but staring absently for a short while.

It didn't take long for Shizuka to pull up. When Mai saw the car, she resisted the urge to jump up and run out the doors to it. Still, she stood up and walked over to the doors. It gained Kaiba's attention enough to look over. "What has your attention, Kujaku?"

Mai bit her lip. Even though she recognized the car, she wanted to be sure. When Shizuka got out of the car, she was certain. "I have a surprise for you." She said.

Kaiba leaned over and looked to where she was looking. Mokuba ran out of the passenger side. Even with his injured leg, Kaiba only had one crutch and walk hobbling against it, his foot touching the ground and pain on his face. Mai, again, opened the door for him.

Mokuba buried his face in Kaiba's chest and squeezed. "Nii-sama…"

"Moki…"Kaiba hugged back, the crutch dropping to the ground. Something in Kaiba opened up, like his whole body let in a breath. "Mokuba."

"I missed you nii-sama."

There weren't many other words exchanged that either Mai or Shizuka could see. Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair, and then seemed almost obsessed as his fingers continued to run through it. Amidst this, the younger Kaiba was still. "You need a haircut," Kaiba finally said. Mokuba's hands flattened against his brother's chest and he pulled off, looking his brother in the eye. With them so close, it was clear to see that Mokuba was nearing his brother's height, maybe a head below.

"I like it long."

Kaiba smirked. "We'll have to talk about it." Even though Mokuba knew it would probably be a sarcastic little argument, he was still smiling as he looked up to his brother as if in reverence. When he was away, however, he realized that Kaiba was standing, with a bit of wavering, on both feet.

No brace. No crutches.

Even as his knee was on the verge of buckling.

"Seto…"Mokuba was amazed.

"Hm?"

"Nothing…"Mokuba said. "Now, all we have to do is get Jou, wherever he is. Right?"

The moment was, however, spoiled, by another voice interjecting itself into their conversation. Mai and Shizuka were still like bystanders, but a police officer was walking out and got a good look at the encounter, and the Mokuba, before looking at Kaiba. "What is going on here?"

And it was the urgency, and perhaps even anger, that was the most alarming.

A/N: I want to add that expect another chapter within the next five days. For sure. If not, spam me with PMs. Please. Because I have so many more interesting scenes ahead. Of course, Jou and Seto have to get back together, right?

Also, the "spare me" that Kaiba said. I was actually on YouTube and saw a small compilation where he said that and thought it was something that should be interjected. Silly me, huh?

I hope maybe this opened up some...things, nonetheless. Get out of dragginess perhaps. Till next time, KenSan out!