Mokuba had finished up the barn and was going over to the chicken coop when Seto and Ryo spotted him.
"Mokuba!" Seto called out to him.
"No, you wait here. Your knee would never hold up in the mud and carrying him. I'll get him." Ryo said racing out.
Ryo grabbed him and carried him struggling against him back to the house.
"Why is he fighting you?" Seto asked.
"You're asking me?" Ryo asked, setting the kid down and having to hold him to keep him from going back outside.
Seto got down on his good knee and put his hands on the kid's shoulders. "Mokuba, Mokuba look at me."
When the kid kept struggling and not responding Seto pulled him close and hugged him. Then he lightly rubbed his back saying soothing words till the kid collapsed on his shoulder.
Ryo walked over and lightly brushed his hair out of his face. "Hey come on kiddo wake up."
Mokuba groaned and stood up rubbing his eyes and noticed he was wet. "W-what happened?"
Seto looked at him and was surprised. "You don't remember?"
Mokuba shook his head no.
"Well it looked like you were securing the barn, which I'll admit did need it but then I couldn't figure out where you were going after that." Ryo told him.
Realization suddenly hit Mokuba, "Oh."
"What is it kiddo?" Seto asked.
"W-when it r-rains o-or a s-strong wind hits. I have to s-secure everything and m-make sure the animals and chickens are put up."
"I understand now, he was fighting me cause he still had to make sure the chickens were up and considering I don't have any anymore he probably would have been out there all night hunting for them."
Mokuba looked at them slightly confused, not understanding what they were talking about.
Seto noticed the odd look on the kid's face. "Well I'm guessing you were sleepwalking or something and went outside to do your normal chores. When Ryo tried to make you come in you refused and fought him."
"S-sorry, I d-don't r-remember."
Ryo hugged him. "It's okay kiddo I know you didn't mean to. Now how about you take a bath and get cleaned up."
Mokuba shook his head no. He hadn't been in a bathtub since he was little; when he needed to get cleaned up, he went to the lake.
"Yes, you're all muddy. You need to get cleaned up." Ryo told him.
"Come on, kiddo. I'll help you, all right?" Seto asked.
Mokuba sighed and nodded his head reluctantly.
'Well it wouldn't hurt to have the kid cleaned up. I do want him to look his best when he meets Yami tomorrow.' Seto said taking the kid to the bathroom to get him cleaned up.
Well it wasn't easy seeing as how Mokuba didn't want to do this but Seto finally got him in the tub and cleaned up. He had a little bit more trouble convincing the kid to allow him to wash his hair seeing as how it was only done about once a month or when company was coming over. Finally, Seto got him cleaned up, and a new bandage on since the old one was wet. Just as they walked out of the restroom with Mokuba wrapped up in a towel they ran into Ryo in the hall.
"Oh well it's not much but I was able to locate some of Bakura's old things. I couldn't find any of mine; they're probably at my aunt's place. But here's clean socks and underwear. He can have one of my old shirts. I think it's best to let him sleep in it for the night, this way his clothes will have time to dry. I will look through more of Bakura's old things in the morning to see if I can find an outfit that might fit him." Ryo told them.
"T-thanks Ryo."
Ryo ruffled his hair. "You're quite welcome. I'll see you guys in the morning."
"This is too much Ryo." Seto told him. "I can't thank you enough."
"It's no problem, I just wish there had been a way for me to have taken him from there and raised him myself."
"I know you care about him. I know if you could have you would. I'm worried about my brother's reaction to him."
"Well if he's anything like you I'm sure he'll fall in love with him as much as we have."
"I hope you're right."
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The next morning Ryo looked through more of Bakura's things and found an outfit he remembered to be one of his favorites before he outgrew it. He felt it was just about the right size for Mokuba.
"Here Mokuba, I want you to try this one."
"Thanks Ryo."
A few minutes later Mokuba came running into the room and hugged Ryo. "I-it fits perfectly."
Seto smiled at how happy he was. He knew that his old pants fit but were just a touch looser than they should be or there was another pair he'd seen him wear that were too tight.
"Well let's see." Ryo tested to be sure. "Well they don't. I figured they'd be about the right size, I just wasn't sure."
"May I see?" Seto asked.
Mokuba ran over to him to show him. Seto smiled; he couldn't believe something simple as new clothes would make him so happy. 'Well if he's this excited over these I'm afraid to see him when I really get him some new ones.' "They fit you well and look good too."
"Now if you'll go to my room and get my brush I'll brush your hair." Ryo told him.
"Okay." Mokuba wasn't crazy about it but it wasn't as bad as getting treated.
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After breakfast they got ready to go. They put Mokuba's old things in a small satchel and Ryo told Mokuba he could keep his old shirt and even gave him a couple of more he could keep. Of course, the bear hug he got for it was all the thanks Ryo needed. Ryo had just finished saddling the horses and brought them outside.
"Are you certain you want to ride? I can fix up the carriage." Ryo said.
"No, I can handle it. I just need a hand."
"Fine." Ryo tried to help him but since you have to mount your horse from the left and it was his left knee that was the problem he couldn't get up all the way over without a lot of pain even with Ryo's help. "This isn't going to work, you can't get your leg all the way over without putting weight on your left. If you insist on riding you'll have to ride sidesaddle."
"If I do that, what about Mokuba? I refuse to let him walk beside us."
"He won't, he can ride with me, if you don't mind Mokuba."
Mokuba shook his head no.
"Great then it's settled." Ryo said taking Mokuba and setting him on the horse before getting up himself.
Seto noticed the kid looked a bit afraid. "You all right, Mokuba?"
"F-fine."
"I'm not too sure he's ever been on a horse before. I offered to take him riding in the past but he always refused."
"Is that true, Mokuba. Is this your first time on a horse?"
Mokuba nodded his head yes.
"Well don't worry kid, I promise not to let you fall. Shall we get going?"
"Yeah, let's get going."
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Meanwhile at the castle, Bakura was getting the troops together to head out to his house. He had planned to meet Ryo yesterday but when he got to the lake to question him about the letter and yell at him for nearly getting him into trouble he was even madder when he never showed up. Well now, he'd have to take a search party out, drag it out of him where he got the letter and hopefully find the king!
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About half way there, Mokuba fell asleep. The slow movement of the horse put him to sleep.
"Well perhaps I should have done this when treating him." Ryo said.
"Well I guess going so slow it just rocked him to sleep."
"It looks that way."
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About 1:15 minutes into the ride, Mokuba was woken by the sound of a lot of horses. Ryo slowed them to a stop and moved a bit to the side thinking they were going through. He was surprised when Seto continued to go forward.
'What is he thinking! He shouldn't just ride into the king's guards like that.' Ryo thought.
'Well I guess it's time to go home and face the music. I'm guessing that Yami sent these guards to get me. I guess in all our talks I should have found the time to come clean and tell Ryo the truth. This won't be easy on him when he finds out the truth, I also hope Mokuba can handle being around so many new people. He's so used to just me and Ryo or his family that many people may frighten him.' Seto thought, riding forward till he was face to face with Bakura.
"My king, we were worried. Master Atemu's been very concerned since your disappearance." Bakura said.
"Yes I was certain he would be."
"Well we were sent to escort you home. Are you up to it or should we send someone back for the royal carriage."
"No, I'm fine, I can handle it. I can make it on my own."
"Very well then." Bakura snapped his fingers and the guards soon surrounded Seto and they started to walk forward. Bakura was about to turn and follow when he spotted Ryo and just glared at him. He then gave instructions to another person to take over as leader and went to confront Ryo.
Seto looked back and was about to call out to Ryo to follow when he saw Bakura riding up to them.
Seeing the guards form a circle around Seto and them all moving forward-surprised Ryo greatly as to why they were doing that. Why was Seto just leaving with what appeared to be the king's royal guards? Mokuba was just as confused as to why Seto left with them. Ryo gulped when he saw Bakura riding towards them, figuring he'd yell at him for not showing up last night and how to explain Mokuba.