A few hours later Yami woke up and noticed the time. Then he reached over to wake Seto up.
"Seto come on time to get up."
"What, why, what time is it?"
"Time to get to work. We're still not caught up on all the paperwork and things from the time you were missing."
"How is that possible? We've been doing paperwork and other things for hours almost everyday since I got back!"
"Well I've been doing the best I can to put off any meetings that come up. Plus I've been doing as much paperwork on my own as I can. The hours Mokuba spends with Ryo are the best times to do work. This way you don't have to worry about him and we get some work done. But you do know that next week you're going to catch up on the meetings you've missed which means that we've got to get all the paperwork we haven't finished up this weekend." Yami told him.
"But Yami I was hoping to spend more time talking to Mokuba. I mean we just learned that he shares our brother's birthday! Too many coincidences are adding up to point to the fact that this kid could really be the brother we lost!"
"I know that! Plus I want to talk to him more on what all Noah did to him. But if we don't get all of this paper work done and these meetings out of the way then we won't be able to take next Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. I know it's going to be hard to concentrate but we've got to get this stuff done. I'll talk to Yugi after I drop Mokuba off with Ryo and see if he can come up with a poultice to help your leg get better faster."
"Do I have to have one of those things? The last time I put one on it smelled the whole room up for a week." Seto said.
"Sorry Seto but the only medicine the doctor's given you is pain killers and I know you. You'd never be able to handle staying on that cane forever. I know the doctor said it should get better on its own but you'll never be able to stay off it long enough for it to heal completely. Besides knowing you, you'll want to eventually get enough free time and play outside with Mokuba and you can't do that if you're dependent on your cane. You really want to take the chance that the doctor's wrong?"
"Fine, get Yugi to make a poultice. What is this about me playing outside with Mokuba? What about you, aren't you going to play with us or are we too grown up to do that?"
Yami just shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Seto said.
Yami sighed. "I'll see if Ryo can take care of Mokuba and see if he can handle taking him to get treated on his own then putting him to bed. This way we can work without interruption for a while and try to get a lot more done."
"All right, your win, you're right if we want more time with him we've got to get royal business finished first."
"Mokuba come on kiddo, time to get up." Yami said.
Mokuba sat up, yawning, rubbing his eyes.
"Do you feel better now?" Seto asked.
Mokuba nodded.
"Well come on, let's go find Ryo. I'm sorry Mokuba but I can't come with you to treatments today. Seto and I have a lot of work to catch up on. But I bet if you ask nicely Ryo will read to you and tuck you in afterwards, all right?" Yami asked, afraid the kid would be mad. He hated to do it since the kid was just now starting to trust him more, he didn't want to lose what he'd just gained.
Mokuba hugged him. "I-it's okay big brother. I un-understand."
Yami hugged back glad he wasn't upset with him. "Come on, let's go."
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
Yami and Mokuba went to Bakura's room first where they could clearly hear an argument going on.
"What do you think I came here just to ruin your life?" Ryo asked.
"Maybe, how the hell should I know why you came here." Bakura said.
"I came here cause my big brother, someone I've never truly known, someone I've always looked up to and admired was a knight and I always wanted to be more like you. You were my hero as a child and I dreamed of someday becoming a knight and making you proud of me. I've always dreamed that someday we could get along and we'd fight side by side in battle or at least ride together as proud knights of this kingdom. But I guess I was wrong to ever think you could ever actually give a damn about anyone but yourself."
The argument was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. Bakura threw it open ready to yell at whoever dared interrupt them. He was surprised to see Yami.
"Master Atemu, what do I owe the honor?" Bakura asked bowing.
"You may stand." Yami said, pushing Mokuba in the back of the head into the room. Mokuba quickly ran over and hugged Ryo, who hugged him back. "I only came to drop Mokuba off and ask Ryo a question."
"What question might that be sir?" Ryo asked.
"Seto and I, while the two of you spent time together, have been desperately trying to catch up with all of our paperwork. Seto refuses to do too much work earlier in the day due to Mokuba or he just doesn't want to do it. But knowing him since it seems Mokuba's birthday is Friday he'll want to take the weekend off, which means we'll need more time to finish all of our paperwork before then. So today, maybe even the rest of the week, I'll have to let you know, I'll need you to look after him a bit more. This is until Seto gets around to assigning a permanent guard. But I will need you to take him to his treatments by yourself. I don't like it that I can't be there for him but I have to help Seto with this paperwork now or we'll never get it done. I also wanted to see if you could make sure he gets into bed after his treatments. That's the main reason it's scheduled so late so that it's close to his bed time."
"No need to worry, I'll be happy to look after him. You don't have to assign anyone. I'm more than happy and capable of taking care of him. You won't need to worry about anything."
"I'm sure I won't, but Seto said he had other plans for you and someone else in mind to be his guard. Though I suspect this other guard will turn him down, if he does then Seto will have to accept your offer."
'Well Katsuya the others warned you that you'd get the job of babysitting. You should have listened to them.' Bakura thought with a smirk.
'I bet he wants Joey to turn down the king hoping that they'll insist I sleep closer to Mokuba and he won't have to deal with me anymore.' Ryo thought.
"Well we'll see what happens. I appreciate your caring for him, Ryo." Yami told him.
Ryo looked at Mokuba and started to stroke his hair. "No problem, it's my pleasure."
"Good." Yami said, bending down to Mokuba's level. "You be good."
"I w-will, big brother, I p-promise."
"I know you will." Yami said, ruffling his hair.
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
After Yami left, Ryo bent down and picked Mokuba up.
"Come on kiddo, we wouldn't want to waste Bakura's precious time or space any longer than we have to." Ryo said.
After they'd made it to the royal gardens, Ryo set Mokuba down. Ryo loved the gardens, he felt free and he knew Mokuba felt very safe there. He even could feel Mokuba becoming a normal kid the more time he spent here and after the hell of a life he led, Ryo felt he deserved the time.
"Ryo l-look what Seto and Yami g-got me." Mokuba said, showing him his belt with his toys on it.
"Well isn't that a neat idea. Now you can carry both of them with you all the time."
"Y-yeah, I l-love it." Mokuba said smiling, then got a serious look and sat down next to Ryo. "W-why were you and Bakura f-fighting?"
Ryo sighed. "For some reason he just doesn't want me here. I try to stay clear of him only by actually being near him at night and trying to build conversations but it seems the harder I try the madder he gets."
"Yeah, I think S-Seto's a bit m-mad at m-me too."
"Really why would he be mad at you?"
"B-because I n-never t-told him t-that N-Noah had t-touched m-me before."
"Oh yeah I remember the first time I found out he'd touched you how hard it was to get you to tell me about more instances. Why didn't you tell all this to Seto when he asked?" Ryo asked, confused since he thought the kid trusted Seto.
"H-he only a-asked w…what happened t-the day he took me away from there. H-he never asked if it had happened b-before."
"Let me guess you didn't feel up to sharing that information."
Mokuba sighed and shook his head no. "H-he didn't even w-want to hear everything that N-Noah d-did that day."
"I see, that explains why you didn't want to tell him. So, if you didn't tell him how did he find out?"
"N-Noah told Seto w-when we were in t-town earlier."
"Oh, I can see why Seto would be upset finding out that way. I know you told me he once tried to undo your pants in the barn but you said he was caught."
"He, he was. Marine c-came I-in c-cause she w-was going to go r-riding that d-day. H-he t-told her t-that h-he was j-just yelling at m-me for breaking something."
"Seto told me a little of what he said you told him, what changed to make this time different from those times?"
"T-this t-time w-was d-different. T-then I h-had h-hope s-someone w-would s-show u-up or I-I c-could y-yell and g-get attention. B-but t-this t-time I k-knew w-we w-were alone and t-that n-no o-one w-would k-know o-or b-be a-able t-to s-stop h-him f-from d-doing w-what I-it was h-he wanted to d-do. H-he w-was a-also never f-forceful t-to the p-point I w-was t-terrified o-of h-him. T-this t-time t-there w-was s-something s-s-scary a-about t-the w-way h-he l-looked at m-me. I-I c-can't e-explain it."
"I knew the moment I heard what he was doing I should have taken you from there!" Ryo said. "But it was just literally impossible to care for you! Master Pegasus would have killed me and kicked me out of school, if I'd brought you. He's not the most open person and wouldn't have listened to your case. I should have forgotten my stupid dream of becoming a knight and looked for a way to support us both! I know it wouldn't have been easy but I should have tried. My idiots parents always traveling wouldn't have bothered wanting to stay and care for you since they didn't me. Sadly my aunt died 6 years ago otherwise I can guarantee she'd love to had you. I just didn't see anything I could do. I couldn't care for you and there'd be too many people asking questions about your back to ask complete strangers to do it. Eventually the family would have found you and taken you back. Anyone I could have left you with would have instantly given you back. I wish now I had taken you, gone to the next kingdom or something and tried to be a knight there. It would have meant leaving Master Pegasus' school but it's something I should have tried. Perhaps there we could have both lived out a life. Then again, maybe I should have just settled down and took whatever job I could get in the next town. I should have realized that being here wouldn't have worked not with Bakura here."
"It's okay Ryo, I understand. I wouldn't have w-wanted y-you to g-give up y-your dream f-for me."
"Thanks kiddo, it still doesn't make me feel better knowing what could have happened because I failed to act when I should have. Well why don't you tell me exactly what he did and we'll talk about it all right. Seto did tell me a little but I want to hear more from you."
Mokuba nodded. 'Maybe Ryo will tell me what Noah wanted to do. Seto and Yami both went pale and it doesn't look like they want to tell me.'
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
As Mokuba started to tell Ryo what all happened, Marik appeared to Malik again.
"Hey." Marik said.
"What did I tell you about coming around?" Malik asked.
"Hey, I'm only here to drop off a message. The advisors have learned that the kid shares a birthday with the king's brother."
"So." Malik asked.
"So, they have a plan to scare the kid off. Maybe even that Ryo kid too. For some reason he makes them nervous. Either way the plan is to find a way to take advantage of the king's distress when he learns the kid's gone. Perhaps even give one of us a chance to take him out. But they've made it clear that if that kid returns, even if you have to do it in the castle they want him dead if he ever sets foot inside the castle again."
"So when do they plan to put this all in motion?" Malik asked.
"They're hoping for Monday if they can get everything set up."
"Why so long?"
"They want the king to be put into a false sense of security first. Then when the brat disappears it should give one of us time to kill him!"
"Fine, but I don't want you around here again till you have more info. This way no one can link us together. If they can't already from your always hanging around here!"
"Hey I'm careful to make sure no one can see me."
"You've always been the careless one in the family!" Malik said.
"It's not true, but fine you won't see me again till I know who's doing what!" Marik said storming off.
"Sometimes I wonder if we are truly related!" Malik wondered with a sigh going back to guard duty.