Chapter 24:

Power

"You really thought you could pull one over on me?" Seto glared down at the fat, balding man who was kneeling at his feet trembling. It was one of his council members. After he'd return to Domino City, much to Mokuba's surprise, he devoted his whole being to launching the new product and weeding out the scum that tried to get him removed as CEO. There apparently had been a group of three working together. This man was the last one. Seto stripped him of his status, made sure all his individual businesses failed bankrupting him, and now the man was begging and groveling at his feet.

"F-forgive me." The man trembled.

Seto dropped a plane ticket in front of the man. "Leave Japan. If you ever come back or show your face in front of me again…"

He left it at that and left the conference room. Security escorted the man out of the building and Seto went back to his office feeling refreshed. It's always a good feeling cleaning up the shit. A man in his mid-twenties with curly green hair, an enormous nose and a goofy grin met him at the door.

Inu bowed and opened the door for him. "Welcome back, Kaiba-sama. How did the meeting go?"

"Well. Give me the report on the new product and the academy building?" Seto sat down at his desk and opened his laptop.

Inu cleared his throat and read over the reports excitedly. "The sales for the new product are up 30 percent, and the main building for the academy is completed. They are proceeding with building the dorms."

"Good work. I need you to bring me the documents for the new attractions at Kaiba land." Seto was already working on the report.

"Right away!" Inu practically skipped from the room.

Ana was right to give him some responsibility. He's been a competent worker. He felt a pang in his heart when he thought about Ana. Slowly, he reached for a drawer in his desk and opened it. Inside was her handkerchief, neatly folded and stored in a velvet-lined box. He traced the stitches with his finger. There was a knock at the door and he quickly closed the drawer, feeling embarrassed.

"Come in."

Mokuba entered. He'd had a growth spurt in the last few months. Now he almost reached Seto's shoulder. His brother huffed as he dropped a set of documents on the table. "Your school work. I wish you would go to school some. Maybe make some friends."

"I have no need to go to that place if I can do my work from the office. The school in Domino city doesn't require my presence so long as I send in the work." Seto barely glanced at the papers.

"I mean, you could at least go and make some friends—"

Seto cut him off. "Mokuba, go to the finance department and bring the budget sheet for the upcoming tournament at Kaiba land."

He pouted, but left without saying another word. Seto leaned back into his seat and sighed. I was only going because she forced me. I don't have any reason to go now… I wonder if she's told her family she wants to teach little brats yet? He shook his head and reached for his laptop. His phone rang. He looked at the I.D. and froze. It was Ana. He stared at it, wondering what she wanted. His eyes slid to the drawer. Maybe her handkerchief? Hesitant, he slowly answered.

"Have you heard from Ana?" It was Hikari's voice and he sounded panicked.

Seto resisted throwing his phone. "What are you talking about?"

"Ana didn't come home after tutoring last night, and we found her phone and bag lying in the street. Have you heard anything from her?" Hikari asked again.

"Why would I have heard anything from her?" Seto asked, confused.

"I don't frickin' know! I'm just calling everyone in her phone and asking! You were the first I called because you were listed as Amin-chan!" Hikari shouted at him. There was a pause and he could hear loud voices in the background. Hikari sounded distracted. "What? Those assholes, I'll kill—!"

Before Hikari hung up, Seto heard someone shout the words kidnapped in the background. The room grew quiet after the phone call. All Seto could hear was his own panicked breathing and the sound of his laptop. Abducted? Ana? He stared at his phone blankly. Mokuba returned with the report he'd asked for.

"I got the… Nii-san? Are you alright? I don't think I've ever seen you look so pale before." Mokuba inched toward the desk.

"Sakurai-san was abducted, apparently." He didn't stop staring at the blank screen of his phone.

"What!" Mokuba dropped the report and ran to his desk. "What are we going to do?"

Seto looked at his brother, confused. "We? Nothing. It's not our business."

Mokuba's mouth fell open. He quickly shut his mouth and scowled at Seto. He ran around to the side and yanked open the drawer with Ana's handkerchief in it. "None of our business?"

Seto slammed the drawer shut, his cheeks growing warm. "Don't look into my desk without permission."

"You like her!"

Seto flinched. "What are you talking about? Like who?"

"Sakurai Ana!" Mokuba glared at him. "You've been moping ever since you got back. I've caught you staring at that drawer every so often and sighing. That's her handkerchief, isn't it? You've been pining over her for months! Now she's been abducted, and it's none of our business?"

Seto turned back to his laptop. "I was under a contract to be her fake boyfriend. That doesn't mean I developed genuine feelings for her."

"They'll hurt her. They might even force themselves—," Seto slammed his laptop shut, and Mokuba flinched before taking a deep breath and continuing, "You are Kaiba Seto. You never let anyone steal anything that's yours away from you."

"She's not mine!" Seto shouted and glared down at his little brother, who returned his gaze unflinchingly.

"Woah, Nii-san. You're a coward. Are you really my brother? Did some dolt replace you during your trip?"

Seto stood up to his full height and clenched his teeth. "What did you say?"

Mokuba hesitated, but continued more desperate than before. "My brother doesn't take no for an answer. When he wants something, he pursues it until the bitter end. You can't be Kaiba Seto. You've got to be an imposter."

"I can't just force my feelings on her like I do in my work." Seto's eyes narrowed. "Even I'm not that much of an ass."

"What does that have to do with saving the girl you like!" Mokuba shouted. "She doesn't see you the same way, so you're just going to abandon her and let people hurt her?"

"That's not what I meant! She has a family that can take care of her."

"You're not my brother! Imposter! Imposter! At this point Wheeler's more of a man than you. The real Kaiba Seto would have jumped out of his seat and immediately gone to track her down, just like how he always saves me." Mokuba's eyes were hard and sad at the same time. Seto bit his lip and took a deep breath before he opened the drawer with the handkerchief. He gently picked it up and pocketed it.

He glared down at his brother, who looked fearful. "I'll have you take that back when this is all over. I'm not a coward and how dare you compare me to Wheeler. More than anything, I am Kaiba Seto."

Mokuba grinned and pumped his fist, but Seto was already on the move and out his office door. He headed to the mainframe room in Kaiba tower. The operator inside nearly jumped out of his skin when Seto entered.

"Get out." A hard look was all it took to make the man flee the room. Seto sat down and cracked his knuckles before typing at the speed of light. The first thing he did was hack the cameras on the street that led from Ana's school to her house. He found the footage where she was abducted. Watching it made him so angry it was hard to see straight. The men were all hooded, so he couldn't identify them. He used the camera's one buy one to follow the van all the way to a Wearhouse district where they'd carried an unconscious Ana inside.

"Found her." Seto felt the bloodlust rising.

"Now what?" Mokuba asked. "If we just show up, they might hurt her."

Seto pulled out his phone and manually dialed a number. "There's a reason I didn't get rid of Gozaburo's military contacts completely. It's time some people pay up on their dues."