I'll be brief: this is another one of the scenes that showed me this one was worth pursuing. It usually takes a few scenes to pop out at me to get started, and every so often a new one will show up to sustain me as things move forward.
This is one of the latter scenes.
At some point late in the morning, Joey got a phone call. Kohaku, who had been sulking/brooding for the better part of two hours, perked up when he heard the blond say: "Wheelman. Whatcha want? Oh, Mokuba. Heya. Yeah, yeah, I did. Listen, kid, I know Kaiba's kinda ticked right now, which is a nice way to say he wants t' blow a hole in our faces, but I gotta favor to ask ya."
He waited a moment. Yugi stepped into the room at that moment, and the blond winked. He mouthed: 'Watch this.'
"You're pretty good at Need for Speed, right? Yeah, the new one. Listen, this kid here at the shop right now ain't got a frickin' clue how driftin' works. Give him a lesson 'r two, huh?" Without waiting for a response, he said, "Yeah, cool. Thanks." He tossed the tiny phone into Seto's lap. "Learn somethin'."
The boy struggled with the device, but seemed to understand how it worked rather quickly. He held it to his ear. "Um…h-hello? I don't…I don't really know. Your name is…Mokuba, right? H-Hi."
Joey smirked like he'd just convinced the devil to wash his car. "Watch the magic, people. I'm gonna grab somethin' to drink."
As the blond left the room, Seto began a cripplingly awkward conversation. He was flustered, confused, and kept looking down at his lap as though looking for some way to escape the situation.
Yugi watched this unfold, thunderstruck. He looked at the boy's parents. "Is he always this shy?" he asked.
"With someone he doesn't know…yes," Yuki said, with a sad little smile. "Truth be told, the way he acts around…Joey, right? He goes by Joey? I've never seen Seto-chan warm up to someone so fast."
Yugi suddenly sputtered with laughter, and had to cover his mouth. "That's…hilarious," Yugi said. At the strange looks he got from both Yuki and Kohaku, he expounded: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just mean…Kaiba and Joey have been at each other's throats pretty much since the day they met. Just this past year, they graduated to tolerating each other." Yugi shook his head. "That he'd warm up to Joey, but be awkward around Mokuba…it's just…it's like Bizarro-World."
Yuki had a strange look on her face when she said, "…Seto…I mean, your Seto—this Seto—he and Mokuba-kun. They're…close, aren't they?"
Yugi's eyebrows raised, and he laughed. "Ma'am, if they were any closer, they'd be one person."
The look on her face got stranger: half-happy, half-devastated.
Joey sauntered back in with a soda. As he popped the tab, he looked around. "They friends yet?" he asked.
True to the question, Seto seemed to have loosened up a bit, in the sparse moments he'd had with the young Kaiba. In that inexplicable way that children have, he seemed to have made a new friend over the course of a single conversation.
Yugi thought it had more than a little to do with Mokuba specifically.
"…Professional? Really?" Seto sounded fully engaged now. "So…so, they broadcast the tournaments on television? Have you ever…oh! Wow. I wish I could go to one. Well…I mean, not now. Not with…with this. Mother and Father can't…well…" It went on in this vein for a while. "…Huh? Oh. Okay. Sure. Thank you. G-Goodbye." Seto handed the phone to Joey again.
The blond hit one button with his thumb and held the device away from his face. "Yo-yo. What's goin' on, Moku-man?"
Everyone in the room could hear the irritation in the black-haired boy's tone when he said, on speakerphone: "…I hate you so much right now."
Joey's grin, already splitting his face, grew wider still. "See ya in a bit?"
"Shut up."
He flipped the phone closed and slipped it into a pocket. "I'm surprised at you, Yug. Here we are, tryna get Mokuba to help…ya never thought to bring in the chief? For shame."
Yugi sighed, and bowed his head. "I'm not worthy," he said.
"…What just happened?" Kohaku asked.
"Joey just solved the Kaiba problem."
When Mokuba Kaiba came up the stairs into the Mutous' living room a half-hour later, he looked like a wholly different person. Where the Yagamis had first seen him as mousy, terrified, even traumatized, and then as quiet and calm, he was now all smiles. With the exception of Joey Wheeler, the black-haired boy greeted everyone with a wide grin and a wave.
On Joey, he leveled a suspicious glare.
Joey seemed entirely unaffected; he smirked. "What it do, player?"
Mokuba gave a little sneer and turned his attention to Seto. "Hi," he said.
"Hello," Seto replied softly.
As Mokuba sat down and picked up another controller, the two boys continued the conversation they'd been having on the phone. Mokuba was particularly animated as he described various parts of the game, pointing out various things onscreen as though he were a sports commentator. Seto, for his part, quickly succumbed to the young Kaiba's rather infectious enthusiasm. He loosened up, and acclimated to the conversation far more quickly than either of his parents would have ever dreamed.
Yuki was smiling wistfully as she watched. Kohaku looked stunned.
Joey looked like a cat with mouse blood on its whiskers. Winking at Yugi, he said, "What'd I tell ya? Am I a genius 'r am I a frickin' genius?"
"I'm sure you're quite pleased with yourself for manipulating Mokuba into participating in this farce," came a cold, familiar voice from the doorway as the elder Kaiba made his slow, meticulous way into the room. "Forgive me if I don't jump for joy at the prospect of you threatening his safety for it."
He was very pointedly not looking at Yuki or Kohaku.
"Niisama," Mokuba said, trying to calm the man, "you said you'd give them another chance. Yesterday was…weird. A bunch of stuff happened that we all regret. Right?"
Kaiba shut his eyes and forcibly calmed; it looked painful.
"I know we didn't handle this right," Yugi said, holding up his hands. "What's done is done. None of us can fix it now. What we can do is fix what's going to happen. Will you help us, Kaiba? Will you help us protect a family in danger? Please?"
Mokuba looked hopeful.
Kaiba looked nauseated, but he eventually said, "…Fine." He glanced cursorily at his young counterpart, then at his brother. "A child in my city is being threatened by someone connected to my name. I do not intend to let that pass. However," at this word he snapped back to regard Yugi with a feverish gleam in his eyes, "make no mistake. You all are in my territory now. I'll do what is in my power to do in order to protect these people, but I will not tolerate your usual handwringing. This time, you will play by my rules. Is that understood?"
Yugi nodded. "Yes."
"Game on," Joey offered with a mock salute.
Yuki inclined her head. "Yes, sir."
Kohaku scowled. "Fine."
Kaiba sighed deeply. "I have preparations to make. My security team is on its way. When they arrive, I will be leaving." He turned to his brother. "Mokuba." His tone was sharp.
"Yes, Niisama," Mokuba replied smoothly.
"I expect you to keep an eye on him." He gestured to Seto, who was watching his older self with rather severe scrutiny. "That is your part in this."
"Yes, Niisama."
Kaiba nodded. He didn't seem particularly satisfied, but pacified wouldn't have been a bad way to describe it. He found a corner of the room, furthest from the door, and stood there, hands at his sides. Yuki noticed him adjust his jacket to allow quick access to the pistol at his right hip.
Joey stood up.
Yugi leaned forward in his seat, his expression darkening as his eyes changed color. "…Your move, boys."
