Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Nightmare ❯ Home ( Chapter 12 )

(I said this at the A/N of last chappie, but I'll say it again:

NOA'S POV!!

See ya at the end.)

-~^NOA'S POV^~-

"If it isn't my runaway son." A voice says from behind me as a heavy hand falls on my shoulder.

I stay as still as a I possibly can. Seto glares at him. Mokuba looks up from the water, shock flickering through his face. Then he grins. "Oniisan came into the pool a couple hours ago! He wouldn't tell us where he was, though." Mokuba pouts, giving me an annoyed look.

How Mokuba comes up with these things, I'll never know. But it's a good thing he did, or we'd all be in trouble. "What brings you back so early?" I inquire in a soft voice. I'm terrified, needless to say.

"Oh, just finished with my business deal and decided to check up on my boys." Gozaburo shrugs. I can tell he's delighted at finding me. Great. Fabulous. Just how I wanted to spend the day.

"Does that mean we can go back today?" Mokuba asks, excited, as he comes out of the water and sits in my lap.

I see Seto relax, and I let out a soft sigh. Mokuba's saving my ass, and he's doing it so Gozaburo won't suspect anything. "Yeah. Can we go back?" I ask, turning around to look up at him.

Gozaburo doesn't look too happy with this. He can't lock me in a room for days on end at the mansion. The servants would find out, or my friends would. But, Mokuba's looking at his all puppy dog-eyed, and that sort of thing can work really well on him. The odds are in our favor. "I....guess..." Gozaburo groans. "Pack now. We can leave whenever."

"Alright!" Mokuba cheers. Then he tugs on my arm. "Help me say good-bye to my friends, Oniisan!"

"Okay, okay." I sigh and follow him, and Seto's not too far behind. I hear Seto snicker softly next to me and know Gozaburo's pissed that I'm still around Mokuba.

I help Mokuba say good-bye to his friends, then thank their parents for watching Mokuba for us. By the time the three of us turn around to go upstairs, Gozaburo's gone. "This is great!" Seto exclaims while we're on the elevator. "We can go home and catch up with Yuugi and Jako and Fradt!"

I laugh. The elevator doors open. "You know, he has a private jet. I know he does."

"It's for business only." Gozaburo says from down the hall as we step from the elevator.

"But I wanna get home now!" Mokuba whines, hanging on to my hand tightly.

Gozaburo glares at me. "It's too small."

I roll my eyes. "No it's not. There's five seats in the back end. I've been on there, remember. You took me to China with it once, because you said something about beating the mail there. You didn't wanna leave me home."

He groans. "Yes, yes... I forgot about that. Fine, I'll call the jet. Happy?"

Mokuba cheers. Seto smiles. I shrug. "Cool." Then I turn to Mokuba. "You said you wanted to show me something?"

"Yeah!" Mokuba half drags me to his room door and opens it, then drags me in.

Seto follows and closes the door with a sigh. "That was close." He whispers.

I nod. Mokuba hugs me suddenly. "Oniisan got us a ride in the jet!"

I laugh. "Hey, you helped!"

Mokuba smiled. "I do wanna go home now! Oniisan promised to teach us English when we got home!"

"Oh, crap. I did, didn't I? I groan. "What was I thinking?" Mokuba and Seto laugh. "Come on. Let's pack." I say.

-~*~-

"Home at last!" I sigh, tossing my suitcase on my bed. I look over at Seto. "So, what're we gonna do first?"

"Let's see if we can go over to Yuugi's. Maybe Mokuba-chan would like to come too." Seto says, smiling.

I nod. "Works for me."

"Can we sweet talk him?"

"Sweet talk who?" Gozaburo asks from the doorway.

"We were wondering if we could go over to Yuugi-kun's. Maybe bring Mokuba-chan with us." I say calmly.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not so sure I should be letting you out of the house, Noa. After all, you disappeared for two days." Gozaburo smirks.

"And I wonder who's fault the first day was." I hiss. "Let's think. Maybe, Gozaburo."

"Maybe Gozaburo what?" Mokuba peeked into the room from behind my father. "Hi."

Gozaburo throws me a quick warning look, then turns to Mokuba, all smiles. "Nothing."

"We were considering going over to one of our school friend's houses, if Gozaburo-sama would let us." Seto says.

"Maybe bring you with." I add, smiling brightly. It's amazing how quickly we can all seem to get along.

"Cool! Can we?" Mokuba turns to Gozaburo, pleading.

Gozaburo frowns. "Fine. I want all three of you home by seven." He turns and stalks off.

"Arigatou." I sigh.

"Seven, huh? Seto smirks. "It's noon. School doesn't let out for a little bit. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He looks at me.

I smirk. "Oh yeah." I pull out my backpack and toss the stuff for the others in it. Seto grabs the game for Yuugi, then takes my bag and hands me the game. "You know, that's gonna get old real fast."

"Humor me, unless you want to fight about it again." Seto smirks, tossing the bad over one shoulder.

"No, no. That's quite alright." I roll my eyes at him. "Let's head out, boys." Mokuba giggles and takes my hand, then forces Seto to walk on his other side by taking his hand too. Seto and I smile.

-~*~-

"You know what?" I complain as we get closer. "I hate this knocking system for the front door."

"So. Let's go in the back door." Seto shrugs.

"Don't you remember what happened when Sho and Erito got home and came through the back door." I nod at Mokuba. "Not with him."

Seto groans. "Good point."

"What?" Mokuba asks.

"Long story." I sigh. "I need my hand to knock." I add. He lets go of my hand. I knock four times quickly.

Instead of the replying knocks, the door flies open and Jako hugs me tightly. "Where have you been?!"

"Jako! Let go of him!" Erito calls from inside.

Jako lets go. I grin. "Let us in."

"Okay..." Jako notices Mokuba, who has shrunk against Seto. "Who's this?" He asks, standing back to let us in.

"Mokuba-chan." I say. "Hey, Mokuba-chan, these are my friends. Jako, Erito, Sho, Tsuku, and Fradt. I suppose Moru's in school?"

"Nah. He's at the shop with his pops." Tsuku makes a face. "Told me I had to stay here."

"I swear, the kitchen's the most dangerous place these days." Sho snickers. Tsuku wacks her on the head. "Hey! Watch it, you stupid candy freak!"

"I was watching it." Tsuku glares at her.

"Oh, stop it, you two." Erito hugs Sho from behind. "He's just horny, dear. Give him a break." Erito ducks the rolled up newspaper in Tsuku's hand quickly, snickering.

I sneak into the kitchen and wrinkle my nose at the mess. I already put Yuugi's gift down outside. I went into the jar sitting on the counter and gag at the icky looking candy inside. "Tsuku, do you have any candy that you haven't used yet?" I call out to the main room.

"Hey! Noa, keep away from my stuff!" Tsuku shouts, looking into the kitchen.

"Third cupboard on the left, third shelf up!" Fradt calls. "I saw them this morning!"

I look and find a bag of lollipops. I grab three and slip past a pissed looking Tsuku, handing one lollipop to Seto and one to Mokuba, then unwrapping the last for myself. I smirk at Tsuku. "Arigatou, Tsuku."

"Come here, you little thief!" Tsuku shouts. I squeal and he chases me around the room.

"Jako!" I dive behind my friend and Jako gives Tsuku a look while I peek out from behind him, wagging my tongue at my predator.

"Now, that's just not fair." Tsuku whines, walking back to the couch and sitting down with a huff.

The back door slams closed and Moru walks in. "I swear, if I have to cut one more piece of- YAH!" He's cuts off as Tsuku jumps up and glomps him.

I giggle and walk out from behind Jako. "He's mad at me, Moru." I whine.

"Hey, you're back!" Moru smiles. "What did you do to make my baby mad at you?"

I hold up my lollipop. "I only borrowed a couple of lollipops."

Moru snickers. "Tsuku, let him have the lollipops. You have plenty."

Tsuku pouts. "But, koi...."

"Don't `koi' me." Moru gives Tsuku a mildly annoyed look. "It's not working."

"Oi, Noa! What about that stuff you got?" Seto calls around his lollipop, still holding Mokuba's hand.

"Oh, yeah!" I smile. "I got Gozaburo to let us go on a shopping spree!"

"Where did you go, anyway?" Jako asks as everyone settles down in one of the chairs, of which there are enough, even with Mokuba.

"New York City." I shrug.

"And you didn't take me?! Noa!" Tsuku whines.

"Oh, give me a break! He did it on purpose, you know." Seto complains.

I nod. "You shouldn't have said anything." I say, looking at Fradt and Jako. "He cut the phone lines and everything."

"Did you get a `lesson'?" Jako asks sharply.

"No." I shake my head.

"Good." Jako snorts.

I roll my eyes and grab the backpack. "Yeah, well, I managed to get him to let me buy stuff for you guys."

"Shit! What did you do that worked so well?!" Sho cries. "He hates us with a passion!"

"I have no clue what I did." I shrug. "If I know, I'd try it again." I open the bag and stand. "Let's see.... Sho and Erito...." I walk over and hand them their bunnies.

"KAWAII!!" They squeal together, hugging me. Then they trade and place them on each others head, to match their hair. Everyone laughs.

"Fradt..." I pull out the racing game and hand it to him.

"Yo! Tight! Arigatou, Noa!" He hugs me too, but not as energetically as the girls.

"Jako..." I hand him the motorcycle.

Jako laughs and hugs me lightly. "Arigatou."

"You can ride that one." Fradt laughs.

I stick out my tongue at him and walk over to Tsuku. "I dunno if I should give this to you. You were being so mean to me before." I say, smirking.

"Gomen! What is it?" Tsuku gives me a pleading look. I hand him the book. He reads the front cover and snickers. "Moru, I'm killing you later for telling him about that damned dare!"

Moru laughs. "It has something to do with a girl's bathroom?"

"There's A Boy In The Girl's Bathroom." Tsuku translates. Moru cracks up next to him, and most of the others in the room either snicker or smile. Tsuku hugs me. "Arigatou."

"Oh, don't thank me yet." I pull out the CD for Moru and hand it to him.

"Cool! I wanted this one!" Moru hugs me, then gives an annoyed looking Tsuku a warning look. "Don't start with me, Tsuku."

I get out of the way quickly. "I hate that stuff!" Tsuku explodes.

"You say this every time." Moru rolls his eyes.

"If you two don't shut it, I'm kicking both of you out!" Fradt warns loudly. Both of them shut up.

"They fight like you two." Mokuba says softly.

"Oh, you noticed that too, did you?" Seto says dryly.

"Yeah, that was Seto's observation the last time they got into a fight. While we were here." I roll my eyes. "Oh, yeah, Jako."

"Hum?"

"Gozaburo has a motorcycle that he says I can have." I smirk.

"Oh, great." Jako groans. "Now you're gonna bug me every ten seconds to teach you how to drive that thing, aren't ya?"

"You bet!"

Jako stands. "I'll be right back." He wanders upstairs.

I blink after him. "What's he getting?"

"I dunno. I don't go up there." Fradt shrugs.

Jako comes back down and tosses something to me. Seto reaches up and grabs it first. "Seto!" I attempt to grab it without squashing Mokuba.

Mokuba hops up and out of the way. "There they go again." He sighs.

I get a close enough look to realize it's some pictures I and the others took while I was here one time. Jako promised to get them developed for me. "Yah! Don't look at those! Give them!" I reach for the pictures again, this time being serious.

"What don't you want me seeing, Noa?" Seto teases, keeping the pictures just out of my reach.

"Give them back!" I squeal.

"Oh, come on, Noa. They can't be that bad." Seto mocks.

"Give them back, Seto!!"

"One condition." Seto smirks.

"Oh, great. What now?"

Seto turns around, kisses me, then hands me the pictures. "Nothin."

I wack him on the head with the photos. "You coulda warned me!"

"Nah. The look on your face was priceless." He replies, rubbing his head.

"About damn time!" Fradt calls.

I feel my face heating up. "Oh, leave me alone!"

Moru turns to Sho. "Pay up, you."

"You suck." Sho places a wad of bills in Moru's hand.

"Wait! You two were betting on me?!" I cry.

Moru pockets the money. "Maybe."

"Give me some of that!" I shout, half getting up.

Seto pulls me right back down next to him. "Noa, if you want money, go weasel it outta Gozaburo."

"Yeah, Kaiba!" Moru sticks out his tongue.

"I hate that!" I cry. "I hate that, and you guys know it!"

Moru scratches the back of his head. "Damn... Sorry, Noa. I forgot about that. I was just playing."

I pull my knees to my chest and pout, half burying my face. Mokuba comes over and pokes my arm. "Oniisan... Oniisan, don't cry."

Seto leans over and sees the tears on my face. "Oh... Noa..." He hugs me tightly. "It's okay. We're sorry. We'll stop."

I turn around and cry into his chest. Seto just sighs and rocks me back and forth, trying his best to calm me down. When I do calm down, I pull away from him and look at the photo package. "Gomen...."

"Hey, it's okay." Jako says calmly from his seat. "Not your fault. What all did he do to you, anyway?"

"He-" I shoot Seto a sharp look. "-attempted to starve Noa." Seto finishes in a low voice.

"Attempted?" Tsuku mumbles.

"Mokuba-chan snuck me food." I mumble dully.

"Noa, may I borrow you for a second, in my office?" Jako asks softly, standing.

I stiffen. Seto draws me to his chest. "I'm coming too." He warns.

"As you wish, oh protective boyfriend." Jako shrugs.

"Come on." Seto stands and pulls me up. I feel shaky, as if I might fall. Seto holds me up slightly and looks at Mokuba. "Stay here." Mokuba pouts, but Seto ignores him and we follow Jako upstairs.

The door closes behind us, and Jako leans against it while Seto sits me in a chair and stands next to me, one hand on my shoulder. "Noa, what else did he do? I sense you're reluctant to speak around your youngest brother."

I shake my head, folding my arms over my chest. "Nothing. He was just himself." I whisper.

Jako is before my in mere seconds, grasping a wrist and pulling back the sleeve to show the bandaging. "Noa. You're lying. You swore you'd always tell me. Remember?"

I remember. When I'd first met Jako, and he learned I was being beat up at home, I promised to tell him what Gozaburo did to me, no matter what. But, if I tell him.... "Not lying." I mumble, refusing to look at him.

"Let him be." Seto says softly. "Maybe he's not ready to tell you whatever happened. He'll tell you when he's good and ready."

I close my eyes, thanking Kami-sama for giving me such a wonderful boyfriend. Jako speaks then, letting go of my wrist. "Fine." I glance up at him, but he's looking at Seto now. "Since Noa won't trust me, I hope he'll trust you. You can do a better job of protecting him than I can, anyway." He stands.

"Jako...." He looks at me again. "I asked Gozaburo if he would allow you guys over to visit sometime, and he said maybe. If I can get him to say okay, will you behave?" I ask, calming myself as I go.

Jako frowns. "I can promise to be civil as long as he in civil, and I promise the others would be the same. If your father thinks along the same lines I do, he'll let the enemy make the first move. There should be peace, and I think he prefers it, most of the time."

I nod. "He won't yell around Mokuba-chan. He's so nice around Mokuba-chan, it'll make you sick."

"Good. We can use that to our advantage." Jako nods. "Come along. We should rejoin the others."

I nod and stand. Seto takes my hand and we walk back downstairs hand-in-hand. I find that I feel much better.

-~^~-

"Konnichi wa, Yuugi-kun." I say as we catch up to Yuugi, who is walking home.

Yuugi jumps. "Oh! Hey." He smiles. "I was wondering if you two had died." He looks over at Mokuba. "Who's this?"

"Mokuba-chan, this is Yuugi. Yuugi, this is my younger brother, Mokuba." Seto introduces.

"Hey there, Mokuba-kun." Yuugi says brightly.

Mokuba smiles, liking Yuugi immediately. "Konnichi wa!"

"Come on. Ojiisan will love to have everyone over!" Yuugi laughs. We start out again.

"Oi, Yuugi, do you wanna come over to the mansion?" Seto asks smoothly.

Yuugi pauses in mid-step, staring at Seto. "The mansion? The Kaiba mansion?" He gasps.

"You are one hell of a troublemaker, Seto." I growl, tossing him a dark look. He sticks out his tongue. "Yeah, the Kaiba mansion." I look back at Yuugi.

"Will that get you three in trouble?" Yuugi asks, worried.

"Nah." I shrug. "He doesn't mind you so much as the others, and I've got him half agreeing to allow me to have friends over and play in the back. Mokuba-chan, can I count on you as backup?" I look over at my younger brother.

Mokuba gives us a far from innocent smile. "Always, Oniisan."

"Cool!" Yuugi smiles again. "Let's go tell Ojiisan and then we can go!" We start out again.

"Oh, yeah." I pick the puzzle from the half open bag on Seto's back and hand it to Yuugi. "We went to New York. Got you something."

"This is great! Arigatou!" Yuugi grins, taking the puzzle. "Wow... I've never seen one of these before...."

Seto and I share a smile. "Any time." I say. "Any time at all."

-~^~-

The door falls closed behind us. Seto looks serious. Mokuba is clutching his Oniisama's hand. Yuugi looks slightly scared. I'm terrified, but keep my body and face neutral. One of the servants runs up to us, looking terrified. "I would turn right around and go elsewhere if I were you, Noa-sama. Kaiba-sama is in one of his moods again."

My eyes widen. "Right. Come on, guys. Bad time to come over." I turn and begin shooing them out the door.

"NOA!!" Gozaburo shouts from what sounds like his office. I flinch. Seto, Yuugi, and Mokuba give me worried looks as I turn back around. He knows I'm home. No getting out of it.

I see him at the top of the stairs and shoot Mokuba and Seto a look. "Get Yuugi-kun home. Now." I order sharply. "And stay there with him."

"No." Seto gives me a dark look.

"Ignorant little...." I start. I sigh, seeing the look on Mokuba's face. "Hey, Yuugi-kun, could you take Mokuba over to your house? One of us can come by and get him later."

"Alright." Yuugi takes Mokuba's hand. "Come on, Mokuba-kun. We'll go play something at my house, k?" He leads Mokuba from the house and the door closes behind them as Seto and I turn to face Gozaburo, who is now at the bottom of the stairs.

"I didn't do anything, this time." I complain.

"You didn't have to." Gozaburo grabs the front of my shirt and bends over so he can look me in the eyes. "But you've been pissing me off this whole week."

"How so this time? It's not my fault you locked me in your room." I roll my eyes at him. "You did that all on your own. Any sane person would have wanted out of that hell-hole."

"I wasn't under the impression you were sane." Gozaburo smirks.

"That's you, baka." I hiss.

Note: Never piss off Gozaburo when he's in one of his moods. His emotions change too rapidly. You're best off staying out of his way entirely, but, many times, you might not have the choice. As long as you watch what you say, you'll live. I've been through enough of these moods to know this by now. Doesn't mean I won't watch what I say, obviously.

~~~

A/N: Have decided to leave it there. Heh. I'm evil, yes. But, if I didn't end it there, it would have taken a while. Writer's Block looms over this ficcy so bad... *pouts*

Noa: And you've had a bad couple of weeks....

Kam: And she stayed away from the fic so she wouldn't have much angst. *glares*

Seto: *wacks Kam on head* Urusei. Evil comments are not appreciated.

Kam: Wack me again and I'll kill you off next chappie.

KK: Kam-kun, I'm writing this. Seto-chan shall live. And, yes, life has been hecktic for me. I had a camp to CIT for. Then, in the middle of the camp, I found out one of my friends died. I half died to the world and scared the shit outta plenty of ppl for disappearing. Something good did happen, though! I got a girlfriend!! *smiles happily*

Seiji: Dyke....

KK: *wacks Seiji with bread* Don't piss me off. I have my bread loaf, and your opinion doesn't matter anyway.

Seiji: Why the fuck not?!

Pugio: Seiji-baka, everyone knows you have had a crush on my hikari for the longest time.

Noa: Yer not very quiet about it, ya know.

Seto: It can be quite entertaining, of course.

Kam: Ah, angst. Sweet angst.

Seiji: *sniffles* I'm gonna go work on the next chapter now...

KK: OH NO YOU AREN'T!! YOU STAY AWAY FROM THAT THING!!

Seiji: Fuck... -_-*

REVIEW REPLIES:

Seto's Chic - Ya know, that was the aim of the fic from the start. I am, slightly, considering making it Seto/Noa/Mokuba, but I have this sinking feeling ppl will kill me later... *pouts*

Ishida Takeru - (It's been a while since I dealt with Digimon... Had trouble remembering how to spell Ishida. -_-*) Yeah. The ages are bothersome. I don't mind if you skip over them. I'd change them all to make the boys older, but I find that boring work... Whatever. If it works for you, it works for me! ^_~

SR - I managed to get the jet in there! Whee!! Thankies for the idea!! (WordPerfect doesn't like it when I come up with new spellings for words or give it new Japanese words. *snickers*)

~KK